Loan Trouble For Wingstop
TRI-CITIES -- A ripple of the recession: banks holding tight to money unwilling to offer loans.
KEPR learned this is the problem faced by a local small business owner who hoped to expand his restaurant and put local folks to work.
He just couldn't get the money to do it.
KEPR Action News investigated how this has affected the Tri-Cities.
Dave Tuthill opened this Wingstop franchise in Richland about a year and a half ago.
Business has been booming from the start.
So Dave didn't want to wait to expand and quickly hoped to open another store on Road 68.
"The opportunity over there is really good. Anyone from Tri-Cities that knows what Road 68 is like they know how crazy it is," Dave Tuthill with Wingstop said.
Since he financed the first store on his own, Dave didn't think he'd have a problem getting a loan.
The bank said, "not so fast." It wanted to wait a couple months.
"A couple months turned into a couple more months, and then a couple more months and I had never heard of anything so crazy before," Dave Tuthill said.
Dave says he was trying to do his part to stimulate the economy, the new store would have brought 20 jobs this summer and revenue to the county.
It was supposed to open in July, but it's November and no Wingstop.
They just broke ground.
Action News called the Small Business Administration to find out if Dave's problem has affected others in the Tri-Cities as well.
Action News found out last year there were 42 loans granted in Benton County and 10 in Franklin County.
Benton has given out 39 this year, but Franklin County's numbers have more than doubled.
So things are actually not as bad as the trouble Dave has run into.
The SBA says banks are slowly easing up on small business lending, but it doesn't mean Dave hasn't missed out on his chance to profit.
"We thought it was going to be kind of simple," Dave Tuthill said.
The missed money for Dave, has meant missed growth for the Tri-Cities.
Wingstop expects to open a handful of locations around Seattle after the Pasco store opens.
They were told it's easier to get a loan when you have multiple locations.
KEPR learned this is the problem faced by a local small business owner who hoped to expand his restaurant and put local folks to work.
He just couldn't get the money to do it.
KEPR Action News investigated how this has affected the Tri-Cities.
Dave Tuthill opened this Wingstop franchise in Richland about a year and a half ago.
Business has been booming from the start.
So Dave didn't want to wait to expand and quickly hoped to open another store on Road 68.
"The opportunity over there is really good. Anyone from Tri-Cities that knows what Road 68 is like they know how crazy it is," Dave Tuthill with Wingstop said.
Since he financed the first store on his own, Dave didn't think he'd have a problem getting a loan.
The bank said, "not so fast." It wanted to wait a couple months.
"A couple months turned into a couple more months, and then a couple more months and I had never heard of anything so crazy before," Dave Tuthill said.
Dave says he was trying to do his part to stimulate the economy, the new store would have brought 20 jobs this summer and revenue to the county.
It was supposed to open in July, but it's November and no Wingstop.
They just broke ground.
Action News called the Small Business Administration to find out if Dave's problem has affected others in the Tri-Cities as well.
Action News found out last year there were 42 loans granted in Benton County and 10 in Franklin County.
Benton has given out 39 this year, but Franklin County's numbers have more than doubled.
So things are actually not as bad as the trouble Dave has run into.
The SBA says banks are slowly easing up on small business lending, but it doesn't mean Dave hasn't missed out on his chance to profit.
"We thought it was going to be kind of simple," Dave Tuthill said.
The missed money for Dave, has meant missed growth for the Tri-Cities.
Wingstop expects to open a handful of locations around Seattle after the Pasco store opens.
They were told it's easier to get a loan when you have multiple locations.
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