Statewide Grove Recouping with Bridge Loan
Story Grove Service of Polk County
Groves across the state of Florida experienced significant losses after Hurricane Irma made landfall in September 2017. The physical damages left crops on the grounds and put future crops in jeopardy. Story Grove Service, Inc., is just one of those many properties that took a hit. Story Grove is an agricultural service company that owns and manages nearly 7,000 acres of citrus, peach and blueberry crops in Central and South Florida.
With crops damaged and future crops in jeopardy, vice president, Kyle Story, decided to take advantage of the State of Florida Citrus Bridge Loan Program. To do this, he sought assistance from the Florida SBDC at University of South Florida.
When asked about his experience with the storm and the assistance received, he recalled:
What type of damage occurred?
During Hurricane Irma, we experienced significant crop losses statewide. We also lost a significant portion of our leaves, and trees and branches. So we have felt the impacts statewide.
How will the Bridge Loan help?
The Citrus Emergency Loan Program is going to be an excellent resource for us to utilize to help offset those losses of the crop and losses of future crops due to leave loss and branch loss so it’s an excellent program that’s been very timely.
How was the Florida SBDC at USF helpful during this process?
We had an excellent experience with the SBDC and our local representative Carl Hadden did a great job. It was painless, tireless and very uncomplicated.
