BURLINGTON, Vt. — An entrepreneurial inventor who received loans from the $31 million Opportunities Credit Union to help him develop a product has received a $3 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to produce it.
Harvie, an engineer, approached Opportunities (formerly the Vermont Development Credit Union) in 2002 for loans to help him develop a bladder relief system suitable for Air Force and other long-range pilots, the CU explained. Harvie had approached banks for help, but had been consistently turned down, the CU said. Harvie invented, developed and holds a patent on the system.
"I came to Opportunities with three other people for a small business loan. We wanted to buy some machining equipment. We had all intellectual property and no assets and had been turned down by all the banks in town," recalled Harvie. "We met with Dede Schlageter and showed her our business plan. I knew we could do this in Vermont and not Colorado. They got involved where a lot of bankers wouldn't and they got to know me."
Harvie's company that he started to produce the system, Omni Measurement Systems, has announced plans to purchase a building in a Burlington business park and is expected to employ 67 area residents, the CU said financing for this part of the project will come not only from Opportunities, but also from Chittenden Bank and the Vermont Economic Development Authority.
Opportunities Credit Union CEO Caryl Stewart takes pride in the fact that Harvie was able to build his business starting with a micro-business loan from Opportunities. "Mark was a creative guy who was being ignored by the system. It is people like him who will grow Vermont's economy and create jobs if given the chance."
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