$3.5 Million Federal Loan Will Help Trucking Company Expand

May 10, 2007, COOKEVILLE – A $3.5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan will enable Songbird Enterprises Inc., a local trucking company, to provide 20 more jobs, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon announced.

“Songbird Enterprises’ expansion is a great return on USDA Rural Development’s investment,” Gordon said. “I commend Michael and Deborah Martin on the phenomenal growth of their company and its contribution to the Cookeville area.”

The Martins began Songbird Enterprises in 1991 with one truck and two employees – themselves. Today, the company has 100 employees and transports goods all over the country, including Texas, the central United States, California and the Carolinas, according to owner and President Michael Martin.

“We’re very pleased and thankful for the bank and federal government’s help. This will really help us, as a company, and our community,” he said. “This loan will provide us with more cash flow that we can work with, so we can provide jobs for our community.”

In addition to jobs, Songbird Enterprises will add more trucks to its operation, Martin said. The company expanded its facility last year.

“Helping communities create a healthy environment for small businesses to expand and create new jobs is one of the most important things we do,” said Rural development State Director Mary Ruth Tackett. “Through partnerships with private local lenders, like Community Bank of the Cumberlands, Rural Development’s guaranteed loan program leverages private sector resources to ensure that entrepreneurs like the Martins have access to the capital they need to compete in today’s marketplace.”

Funding for this investment comes from Rural Development’s business programs which provide assistance to businesses and not-for-profit organizations, cooperatives, partnerships, individuals and public bodies to create or maintain jobs and improve the economic climate in rural communities. The guaranteed loan program works by increasing access to private credit through loan guarantees that allow local lenders to make more competitive loans to support rural businesses. Rural Development invested more than $30 million in Tennessee business development and job creation and retention in 2006.