Davidson Surface Air expands, buys KV building
St. Louis Business Journal
December 15, 2010
By Kelsey Volkmann
Hazelwood logistics company Davidson Surface Air has expanded to Maryland Heights with its purchase last month of a building from KV Pharmaceutical.
The 8-acre property will allow Davidson to expand from $4 million in annual revenue to $7 million in 2011 and add seven to 10 employees to its work force of 35, President and CEO Donald Davidson said.
Davidson said his company invested $500,000 to renovate the space, which will be used to store tools and aircraft parts for its customers, which include Boeing Co. and GKN Aerospace.
The acquisition was made possible with $1.2 million in financing from Great Southern Bank and a first-of-its-kind $500,000 loan from St. Louis County.
The county loan, which has a five-year fixed rate of 6.01 percent, was the first the St. Louis County Economic Council has awarded through its Boost program.
Boost is an alternative to the Small Business Administration's 504 loan program, offering less restrictive requirements to borrowers seeking financing for the purchase or construction of land, buildings, machinery and equipment within St. Louis County. County officials called the program the first of its kind in the United States.
Davidson provides shipping, warehousing and inventory control services. Don Davidson started his company in 1981 in the basement of his North County home with two used trucks, one customer and no employees while employed by Briggs Transportation as a truck driver. Since then, the Davidson Surface Air has evolved into a global company with business throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark and Japan. Today the company employs 35, owns a fleet of more than 50 trucks with revenue of more than $4 million.
"We had a time-sensitive contract on a facility in north St. Louis. Since there was a back-up contract on the same building, it was critical that we close within weeks, not months," Davidson said.
"Boost provided a faster loan approval process than the SBA, which was an important benefit."
County officials said other Boost benefits include up to 90 percent financing, low floating interest rates or a variable fixed rate, no prepayment penalty for floating rate, and a 20-year term.
Boost is administered by St. Louis County Economic Council's business finance staff. The Business Finance Corp. of St. Louis County, a 501(c)(6) organization, approves all loans and since 1981 has disbursed more than 440 SBA 504 loans representing over $147 million.
