MVA revived by loan

POLSON — Put all those rumors to rest, people: Mission Valley Auto isn’t going anywhere.

Thanks to a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Association, MVA will see new 2010 Chevrolet models available in the next few months as production on the plant lines gets up and rolling again.

On Sept. 30, Michelle Johnston, district director of the SBA and Martin Olsson, President of Eagle Bank, were on hand to present MVA owner Robin Vert-Rubel with the $1.3 million check to help inject a lifeline into the struggling car dealership.

“I might have had to go out of business if I hadn’t gotten this,” Vert-Rubel said. “Because of Eagle Bank and the SBA, we can stay in business and keep our 15 employees with jobs.”

The money comes from the SBA’s Dealer Floor Plan Initiative, which Vert-Rubel heard about through an e-mail from the GM Minority Dealers Association. The Dealer Floor Plan allows the SBA to offer “government-guaranteed loans to finance inventory or eligible auto [dealerships]…that allows dealers to borrow against retail inventory and acts as a revolving line of credit for a dealer to obtain financing for retail goods,” according to a press release.

Though guaranteed by the Small Business Association under the SBA’s 7(a) loan program, the money comes from a local community bank; that’s where Olsson and Eagle Bank stepped in.

The money originated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a portion of the stimulus package from the Federal government that is designed to help small businesses. Vert-Rubel’s dealership is only the second to receive a Dealer Floor Plan in the nation, and the first in Region Eight, which is composed of North and South Dakota, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming; now there are 14 DFPs around the nation that have been approved. Mission Valley Auto is the only GM dealer in the lower Flathead Valley, the other closest being in Missoula or Kalispell, so GM owners in Lake County can breathe a sigh of relief over MVA’s new found stability. Plus, it helps that MVA offers top-notch service.

“We have been in the top 50 nationwide Chevy dealerships customer satisfaction index in customer service and sales,” Vert-Rubel said. “Because of that they couldn’t take the dealership away from me.” 

Vert-Rubel has been cleaned out of her 2009 models, but the 2010s are on their way, financed by the SBA money, and people are already snapping them up. She said she’s sold six Chevrolet Camaros, while cars with higher fuel efficiency, like the Equinox and Traverse, are also set to sell quickly.

Mission Valley Auto’s strong business model made it easy for the SBA to award the loan, Johnston said.

“The SBA is very pleased to award this loan to Mission Valley Auto,” Johnston said. “This is a brand-spanking-new program that came about because of what happened in the car industry, and the SBA thought this would be a good way to help the dealerships. Mission Valley Auto is the first Dealer Floor Plan in Montana, and we couldn’t award it to a better dealership.”