Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/688926
2016 | Doing Business in Connecticut 61 Small Business A mong small business owners, federal and state officials and business association leaders, there is a renewed sense that Connecticut is getting its small business act together. Everett Skinner III has seen the changes since starting e Barn Yard & Great Country Garages, the Ellington-based manu- facturer of storage sheds, barns and other post-and-beam buildings. Early in his business career, Skinner remembers, an economic downturn led banks to call in outstanding business loans, even ones like his that were current. Skinner said he was fortunate to be able to cover his financing needs from his own assets, but now, he said, things have changed. "People in the banking industry are looking to do business with us," he said. e Barn Yard took advantage of the federal Small Business Administration's SBA Express loan program a few years ago, when it relocated manufacturing to be at the same location as its corporate headquarters. e SBA Express loan was "a generous amount, but not millions," Skinner said. It enabled him to relocate the manufactur- ing facility and buy new technology, such as a state-of-the-art Italian cutting machine. e machine makes post-and-beam building frames with such extreme precision that he is shipping building kits all over the country. "is brings the precision and speed into one, and we can offer a product that's second to none," Skinner said. e firm also received state aid for its expansion as it relocated the families of two new employees from Montana and Illinois to Connecti- cut. "e state was able to show us how, if we brought in people and expanded, it would be partners with us," he explained. e employee from Montana had been managing Barn Yard's website and suggested that the firm bring him on full-time instead of working remotely. e Illinois employee was a construction engineer now working in sales in one of the firm's two showcases. From two employees in 1984, e Barn Yard has expanded to 50 employees at three locations. Skinner's two sons, Everett IV and Chris, are both active managers in the business: Everett on the manufac- turing side (he is a structural engineer) and Chris, a business ma- jor, runs sales. e business community now realizes the important role small businesses play in job creation and revenue generation across the state, said Christopher P. Bruhl, president and CEO of the Business Continued on page 66 > Pictured is the interior of a post and beam barn built by Great Country Timber Frames, a sister company of Ellington- based The Barn Yard. PHOTO/THE BARN YARD