Page 7 - BusinessWest May 29, 2023

From the beginning, Jim recalled, they understood the importance of investing in new equipment and staying on the cutting edge of improving technology, knowing that doing so would open new doors for them.
This was especially true with the installation, in 2007, of an automated, six-color Heidelberg press, the XL 75, a more than $2 million investment that included not only the press, but also Heidelberg software to auto- mate all the company’s processes, from estimating to shipping.
This was the first such installation in the U.S., he told BusinessWest, and it came on top of a $1 million expan- sion of the building and a number of existing equipment loans.
The acquisition of the XL 75, and those other invest- ments, were a well-thought-out business strategy, and the equipment was expected to enable Millennium to take a major step forward, he went on. However, the tim- ing was unfortunate, to say the least.
Indeed, just a year later, the words ‘Great Recession’ were working their way into the local lexicon. The Dow was cratering, the economy was in freefall, and busi- nesses large and small were hunkering down and simply trying to survive the onslaught. And, by and large, no one was printing anything.
“In 2008, we saw sales drop. People weren’t purchas- ing as much printing — annual reports, mailings ... they just weren’t doing the volume of printing they were in the past. Yet, our expenses were at their highest point.
“In 2008, that was the first year we didn’t turn a prof- it,” he went on. “And the banks ... they want to know who you are at that point.”
Elaborating, he said the couple had a great 19-year relationship with a bank (he chose not to name it) that was sold to a larger bank, an entity that saw Millenni- um’s declining debt-to-income ratio and essentially said, “you’re not for us.”
The Big Picture
The Sullivans said they knew they needed to create a plan to slash debt, both business and personal. They altered their lifestyle and borrowed a significant portion of their retirement money to retain employees and pay down debt to keep the business open. They also sought help from the SBA, working with the agency’s lending team to refinance their building and business debt and essentially save the business.
And for the next decade, until 2020, the company continued to be profitable, pay down debt, and even build a reserve fund, said Kelly, adding that, by the end of 2019, they approached a traditional bank about a loan to pay off all their existing SBA debt.
“Our numbers were good enough, our equity was good enough, our debt was right where it needed to be, and they approved us in March of 2020,” said Jim, add- ing emphasis when noting the month and year, and for obvious reasons. That was the start of the pandemic.
“The bank came back and said, ‘we’re going to have to put your financing plan on hold,’” he went on, adding that the company saw more than half of its customers shut down, a staggering loss that forced Millennium to lay off 75% of its workforce, although the Sullivans con- tinued to pay for their health insurance after they were laid off.
Even with a skeleton crew — the Sullivans and a few others — the company was chewing up its reserve fund at a rate that was not sustainable, Kelly said, adding that PPP loans and EIDLs (Economic Injury Disaster Loans) from the SBA not only helped Millennium, but also enabled other businesses to regain their financial footing and buy services — like printing.
“In 2008, we
saw sales drop. People weren’t purchasing as much printing — annual reports, mailings ... they just weren’t doing the volume of printing they were in the past.”
Millennium
Continued on page 43
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