Supervisors lend Tracy business $150,000

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors loaned $150,000 on Tuesday to a start-up high-tech precision parts business in Tracy.

The loan to Swiss Technology, 392 W. Larch Road, and its owners, Karen and Terry Miller, will pay for equipment and help hire two employees. The loan was doled out from the county Employment and Economic Development Department's revolving loan fund, Director John Solis said.

"Our job is to help ... the small business community," he said. "It's intended to help stimulate the economy."

Swiss Technology was engineered in Switzerland and reflects all the equipment and technology used in the shop.

Shop owner Terry Miller said Wednesday that the machinery uses titanium, tungsten, nickel alloys and stainless steel to produce specialized parts for the aerospace, defense, medical, energy and high-tech electronics industries, according to a county report.

"Companies send me blueprints," Miller said. "They don't tell me the uses for the components. I just make widgets."

"None of it is something the general public would recognize," he said.

The business opened with $75,000 start-up cash from the Millers. The couple needed another $150,000 to buy other necessary machinery. The loan has a 10.25 percent interest rate, an extra fee of $3,000, and must be repaid in a little more than seven years.

As a security measure, the county will put a lien on all of the shop's equipment.

Supervisors discussed the loan at their meeting Tuesday, with Supervisor Jack Sieglock and others questioning its merit.

"I can see why banks didn't approve this," Sieglock said. "Why should we?"

However, the board decided to approve it because of Terry Miller's 20 years of experience in the field. He used to work for another business that recently closed when the owner retired. Miller said he has retained most of his clients.

Miller also said he has already received his first order, as well as letters of intent from other clients.

Contact reporter Roman Gokhman at romang@tracypress.com.