Commercial Client Success Stories
Our Commercial Lending team uses decades of combined experience to build long-lasting client relationships by providing custom and competitive loan products that help businesses prosper.
Armstrong Ambulance
For nearly 80 years, Arlington-based Armstrong Ambulance has been caring for people in need across the Greater Boston area with life-saving emergency medical services. Founded in 1946 as a grassroots operation out of the Armstrong family home, Armstrong Ambulance has since grown into an industry leader in the field of advanced life support with seven locations and more than 350 EMS professionals serving 70,000 patients annually.
Armstrong Ambulance President and CEO Richard Raymond was looking for a partner that could help the business secure a flexible and innovative lending solution to provide both working capital as well as finance an expansion of the company’s fleet of emergency vehicles.
Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team worked with Armstrong Ambulance to provide a line of credit for working capital, as well as multiple vehicle loans to upgrade the business’s ambulance fleet so they can continue to provide their patients with the highest quality life-saving care.
Pleased with the fast turnaround times and overall service experience in working with the Bank’s Commercial Lending team, Armstrong Ambulance also began partnering with Leader Bank’s Business Banking team for their business banking and cash management needs.
The team at Leader Bank understands the importance of our mission to provide Greater Boston with critical emergency medical services. With these lending solutions we will be able to continue to improve and modernize our fleet of vehicles and invest in our teams with training, education, support, and state of the art technology.
Forefront Eye Care
Established in 1920, Boston-based Forefront Eye Care is one of the oldest continuing optometric practices in the country and is world-renowned in the fields of dry eye and contact lenses. The team at Forefront Eye Care focuses on continuous improvement of their clinical practices to provide cutting-edge techniques and technologies to enhance their patient care.
Forefront Eye Care Co-Owners Dr. Amy Nau and Dr. Andrew McLeod were looking to upgrade their practice, previously located in a basement-level brownstone on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, to a larger commercial clinic space with better visibility and transportation access in Boston’s historic Financial District.
Dr. Nau and Dr. McLeod found their ideal street-level storefront on Bedford Street less than two miles away from the practice’s previous location, and worked with Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team to find a lending solution that would allow them to achieve their business goals.
Leader Bank helped the Forefront Eye Care team secure a $500,000 term loan and a $500,000 SBA loan to fund the build-out of their new office space. Not only does the new location offer the desired increase in foot traffic and access to transportation hubs, but it also helped the business double its clinical space and create the opportunity for greater income and improved patient care.
Leader Bank quickly recognized the potential of a new location for our business. Their team was incredibly supportive throughout the construction of our new space, and helped ensure our vision was realized so we’ll be able to provide expanded services to our patients for years to come.
The Croft School
The Croft School operates small, reasonably priced, high-quality private schools designed as an alternative to both public schools and traditional private schools. The Croft School Founder and Executive Director Scott Given aims for his schools to deliver a balanced and rigorous student experience alongside a unique level of parent service.
Serving approximately 450 students across three locations in Boston and Rhode Island, the team at The Croft School has seen extraordinary demand since opening their first location in 2018 with long admissions waitlists and as such are planning to expand their student body.
Each Croft School location opened in a leased building, with all three needing to be converted from non-school facilities into educational learning spaces which required a significant amount of working capital.
Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team worked to help The Croft School secure a $2.2 million Small Business Administration (SBA) loan and additional $300,000 term loan to help with the build out, renovations, and improvements of all three locations to ensure they were delivering the best possible experience for their students.
I am so appreciative of the team at Leader Bank and their dedication to helping us find the right solutions to support Wicked Bagel’s expansion. Their flexibility and continued support as our needs evolved throughout the construction of our new location has been invaluable.
Wicked Bagel
Wicked Bagel owner Maria Mahoney opened her first location in Lexington in 2017 with the intention of bringing her love of artisan, New York-style bagels to Greater Boston.
After several years providing her clients with fresh baked bagels and an expanded breakfast and lunch menu, Maria worked with Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team to secure a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan to help with the build out of the second Wicked Bagel location in Woburn in 2021.
As demand kept growing, Wicked Bagel continued their expansion in 2023 with plans for a third location in Watertown and once again worked with Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team to secure two loans totaling $550,000, including another SBA loan, to help finance construction of the new location.
When the build out of the new Wicked Bagel Watertown location took longer than anticipated, Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team worked with Maria to increase the existing loan amount on the project to help finance the remaining construction. Work on Wicked Bagel’s Watertown storefront is nearly complete with an official opening expected in May 2024.
Leader Bank quickly recognized the power and potential of the niche that The Croft School model is filling. The Bank’s provision of debt capital and strong partnership has enabled our organization to efficiently create the bright and modern school spaces that our students, families, and teachers expect and appreciate.
The Throne Depot
Since 2005, The Throne Depot co-owners Steve Brodeur and Michael Cormier have provided New England with portable restroom rentals and sanitation solutions for events and construction projects. As a family-owned and operated company, The Throne Depot prioritizes excellent service and high-quality solutions to meet their clients’ needs.
A Leader Bank client since 2013, the team at The Throne Depot has appreciated having a lending partner that shares those values as their business has grown over the last decade.
Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team has helped The Throne Depot secure Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to finance new equipment purchases, as well as with the acquisition of a new warehouse in Billerica that was financed by an SBA 504 loan.
Most recently, The Throne Depot worked with Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team to secure a $300,000 line of credit to provide working capital and help fund equipment needs. As their business has continued to grow, the Commercial Lending team helped The Throne Depot increase this line of credit to $600,000.
Leader Bank has been an incredibly supportive partner for our business for more than a decade. Their team has worked tirelessly to help ensure our business will continue to thrive for years to come.
Nashoba Valley Ski Area
Nashoba Valley Ski Area has been a Massachusetts institution for nearly six decades, from its opening in 1964 with rope tows servicing four slopes to its current operation as a full-service ski area consisting of 70 acres of skiable terrain over 27 trails.
The resort has continually expanded its offerings over the years to become a year-round recreational facility with the addition of New England’s largest snowtubing facility, The Outlook restaurant, the Sunset Tiki Bar and Grill, the Witch’s Woods Halloween attraction, and more.
As President and Owner of one of the Boston-area’s most beloved destinations, Alan Fletcher needed a bank that could help him continue to offer new and exciting experiences to visitors.
Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team worked to help Alan refinance the resort and provide a line of credit to help with operational needs as well as with the purchase of new equipment. With this assistance, Nashoba Valley Ski Area looks to continue to add attractions in the years to come, including an expansion of the snowtubing park already underway
It has been a true pleasure working with Leader Bank. Their team worked tirelessly to provide lending solutions that will help our business continue to thrive.
MEM Tea Imports
In 1999, it was rare to find high-quality loose tea available at your local café or restaurant in the United States. The team at MEM Tea Imports stepped in to help fill this void and provide tea drinkers with products that focused on integrity of flavor, purity, and efficacy by sourcing, importing, and distributing tea to the food service and hospitality industries as well as conducting thousands of tastings and trainings for cafés, restaurants, hotels, and emerging tea companies.
MEM Tea Imports Owner Gilbert Tsang and his team previously rented two 5,000 square foot facilities where they paid substantial rent. Having two locations created operational and staffing issues, and the team at MEM Tea Imports had always wanted to purchase their own headquarters.
Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team worked to help MEM Tea Imports purchase a $3.5 million commercial building in Wakefield through the Small Business Administration’s 504 program which allowed the Bank to finance up to 90% for the business.
MEM Tea Import’s new facility is 16,000 square feet which helped the business consolidate their previous two locations into one, improve operational and staffing efficiency, and provide much needed space for future expansion. Now, instead of paying rent, the team at MEM Tea Imports is building equity to support future growth.
Leader Bank helped our business realize a long-held goal of owning our own headquarters and set us up to continue to grow our business in the long run.
Mighty Squirrel
Mighty Squirrel is a craft brewery located in Waltham. The brewery started in 2015, selling their product in stores, bars, and restaurants. In 2018 they built a brewery and taproom in Waltham so they could brew all of their beer in house and welcome people from the community.
Mighty Squirrel has grown in leaps and bounds over the past three years and is now in the top 2% of the 9,000 breweries in the country and is ranked in the top 10 breweries in the state out of more than 200.
To meet the demand for their beer, Mighty Squirrel needed to install additional brewing equipment and infrastructure. Co-Founder Henry Manice approached Leader Bank to help finance this crucial growth that will allow the brewery and taproom to continue their incredible success.
The Bank’s Commercial Lending team worked with Mighty Squirrel to offer a $1.75 million loan to help finance new equipment at the brewery including a new canning line, centrifuge, silo grain-in and grain-out system, keg cleaner and filler, and numerous fermentation tanks. The loan will also help the brewery build out the infrastructure needed for this new equipment.
With these additions, Mighty Squirrel expects an increase in profits through improved efficiency in several key areas as well as reduced raw material costs. With the assistance of Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team, the brewery will now be able to fully lean into the growth in demand for their product with this increased brewing capacity.
The team at Leader Bank provided us with a lending solution that will set us up for success in both the short and long term.
About Commercial Lending
Leader Bank’s Commercial Lending team offers innovative solutions to help our clients achieve their business’s goals. Whether an entrepreneur is looking for a commercial loan on an investment property or a line of credit to help finance new equipment for their business, our Commercial Lending team is ready to provide world-class service in finding the perfect solution for every client.
