Hartford Business Journal

14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 5, 2024 Building Ideas That Work... CROWLEY FORD, PLAINVILLE SULLIVAN HONDA, TORRINGTON Contact us at 860.482.7613 or visit us at BorghesiBuilding.com 2155 East Main Street Torrington, Connecticut 06790 © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing ™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. SULLIVAN JEEP, TORRINGTON No matter what brand of vehicle you purchase, you want to be sure that it is reliable. Choosing a builder should be no different. For more than 80 years, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. has provided quality and reliability with design and energy efficient construction. With on time construction, Borghesi Building & Engineering Co., Inc. will create a smooth transition from construction to completion. New construction Seidel's new strategy has manifested in a newly built, 60,000-square-foot addition to its Thomaston Avenue headquarters. Torrington-based Borghesi Building & Engineering led the construction project over the past year. The city granted a temporary occupancy permit in January, and Ritzenhoff said he expects to consolidate most of Seidel's three leased off-site locations into the building by March. (From left to right) M&T Bank Senior Vice President Edgar S. Auchincloss, Seidel President Brian Stach, Seidel owner and Chairman Michael Ritzenhoff and Louis G. Silva, president and CEO of SBA lender Community Investment Corp. in a recently completed 60,000-square-foot addition to Seidel's main manufacturing hub in Waterbury. That will result in energy savings and additional efficiencies as compo- nents that used to be shipped over miles will be shaped, smoothed and coated in the same building. A Seidel-affiliated limited liability company borrowed $4.24 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration for the building project through the federal agency's 504 loan program, which was matched with a combination of funds from participating lender M&T Bank and equity tallying $5.19 million. Ritzenhoff said the 10% down payment and 25-year term offered through the SBA's 504 loan program was crucial. The program divides a loan up, with a traditional lender funding 50%, the SBA covering up to 40% and borrowers generally inputting 10% equity. The down payment can rise as high as 20% in certain conditions. Seidel's 504 loan is paying for the building, its fit-out, some new machinery, rooftop solar panels and more. Seidel was introduced to the program and Hamden-based Community Investment Corp. — an SBA-affiliated nonprofit lender — through M&T Bank. "This was such a bold vision, buying four companies and putting them into one building," Ritzenhoff said. "It was bigger than a company our size normally can handle. The only way to do that was the 504 program through M&T Bank and through CIC/SBA." Seidel's loan closing was delayed for about a year, as the company first needed to perform environmental studies to ensure there was no mystery industrial pollution that would spike building costs. Once that was satisfied, however, the SBA approval process was smooth, Ritzenhoff and others said. "The SBA has really been easy to deal with," said M&T Senior Vice President Edgar S. Auchincloss. "In the past 10 years, they've trans- formed the way they do business." CIC President and CEO Louis G. Silva said Seidel is a perfect fit for the 504 program, which aims to create and preserve jobs. "This is a perfect example of where we see the government's money being put to good use," Silva said. "It has a ripple effect." Waterbury Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. said the city is happy to see Seidel, a long-term fixture, taking these companies under its wing. "The fact they have such confi- dence in the future means a lot to us," Pernerwski said.

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