Quick Mount PV Ribbon-Cutting Attracted 200 People to Celebrate and Tour New Facility
Quick Mount PV Ribbon-Cutting Attracted 200 People to Celebrate and Tour New Facility
As Published In: Walnut Creek Patch
Quick Mount PV Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Attracted 200 People to Celebrate Expansion and Tour New Facility;
TMC Financing and the SBA 504 Program Recognized as a Public-Private Partnership “That Truly Works”
Walnut Creek, CA (July 3, 2012) – More than 200 friends, family members, customers, business partners, and government officials gathered together last week to celebrate Quick Mount PV’s new 133,600 square-foot facility in the Shadelands Business Park, Walnut Creek, CA. TMC Financing co-hosted the celebration, which featured a building tour, remarks, food, and live music by Quick Mount PV’s two house bands, The Quick Brass Band and Wave Array.
VIPs from federal, state, and local government agencies were on hand to celebrate the milestone and to pay tribute to Quick Mount PV’s founders, Stuart and Claudia Wentworth, widely lauded as “visionaries in the solar industry.” Speakers also recognized TMC Financing’s role in enabling Quick Mount PV’s growth. TMC worked with Quick Mount PV to provide 90% financing via the SBA 504 program to enable the company to finance the acquisition and renovation of its new home. SBA 504 financing offers businesses below-market, fixed rate financing for the acquisition, renovation or construction of commercial real estate.
The event featured an impressive mix of speakers, including: Ken Lewis, President, Quick Mount PV; Barbara Morrison, President & CEO, TMC Financing; Elizabeth Echols, SBA Regional Administrator; Bob Simmons, Mayor of Walnut Creek, CA; Karen Mitchoff, Contra Costa County District IV Supervisor; and Louis Stewart, Deputy Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
Gayle Larson, Field Representative for California Assemblymember Joan Buchanan and Brian Hooker, Deputy District Director, Congressman John Garamendi (CA10), presented Claudia and Stuart Wentworth with proclamations in honor of the milestone.
Quick Mount PV President Ken Lewis kicked off the day’s spirited remarks by announcing that, “today we officially document that Quick Mount PV has arrived.”
“We are fortunate to have a very innovative staff with great leadership from the owners of the company, Claudia and Stuart Wentworth,” said Lewis. “Stuart’s genius and innovative abilities keep our R&D group very busy and productive. And the two of them working side-by-side with us each day keep customers interested by not only delivering great products but also delivering great customer support.”
TMC Financing President Barbara Morrison acknowledged the impact small business “heroes” are having on the nation’s economic rebound.
“The SBA 504 loan was our connection,” said Morrison. “It is the financing that enabled Quick Mount to buy this building. It makes it possible for businesses to control their overhead, which helps them control their own destiny. This facility allows the company to occupy a building that is larger than what they need giving them space to grow in a systematic way. That is the message that I hope many more small businesses will hear so that we can help more businesses accomplish the dream that both Claudia and Stuart have had for so long.”
SBA Regional Administrator Elizabeth Echols told the audience how impressed she is by Quick Mount’s “desire and passion to be a pioneer” in the solar industry.
“Quick Mount PV is showing what America’s manufacturers can do,” said Echols. “In fact, manufacturers in America are making a comeback. We hear so much about jobs going overseas, but companies like Quick Mount PV are proving that we can create good jobs in America — good sustainable jobs — and still be competitive, so that is just a true success story.”
“Our goal at the SBA is to help companies grow and succeed and create new jobs,” said Echols. “All of this of course doesn’t happen by magic. It takes great partners like TMC Financing. This is a great example of a private-public partnership that truly works. When Quick Mount decided that they wanted to demonstrate confidence and faith in their future and in their growth and step out and purchase this facility, they turned to TMC, and TMC was able to help them and played a critical role in making this dream come true.”
Mayor of Walnut Creek Bob Simmons thanked Quick Mount PV for deciding to invest in the community, for the green jobs they bring to Walnut Creek, and for “their marvelous reuse of an existing facility.”
Contra Costa County District IV Supervisor Karen Mitchoff also gave a shout out to the “public private partnership that goes into creating a business.”
“One of the ways we’re going to grow our way out of this (recession) is our small businesses,” said Mitchoff. “As a non-business person, when I see a big building like this, I don’t think of it as a small business, but I understand that it is. It has heart, and soul, and 65 employees. I know that you will grow it and do well.”
Louis Stewart, Deputy Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development, rounded out the day’s remarks by telling audience members that “California leads the nation in solar energy production and solar growth capacity.”
“Quick Mount’s ribbon-cutting is not only a testament to the results of solid green energy policy but also an example of how public-private partnerships can and should work to promote growth and economic development,” said Stewart. “Stuart and Claudia Wentworth are visionaries in the solar industry.”
Stewart also thanked TMC Financing and the SBA for making it possible for making it possible for Quick Mount PV to “create sustainable local jobs in California” and to do “the unthinkable, which is manufacturing in California.”
About Quick Mount PV: Quick Mount PV (Quick Mount PV) manufactures building-code-compliant, waterproof mounts used to secure solar electric (PV) and solar thermal (hot water) systems to rooftops. Founded in 2006, Quick Mount PV has grown rapidly to become the industry’s leading seller of flashed rooftop mounts for solar installations. With an emphasis on buying parts and components from other U.S. manufacturers, the company complies with FTC regulations to proclaim its products are “Made in the USA” and fulfills the requirements of the Buy American provision contained within the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).
About TMC Financing: TMC Financing (TMC Financing) has provided over $6.4 billion in SBA financing for more than 3,900 businesses throughout California and Nevada over the past 30 years. TMC has been ranked the number one SBA 504 Lender in Northern California for over a decade and is currently the number one SBA 504 Lender in Las Vegas.
