Guerrette Testimony

Summary

Written testimony of Chris Guerrette, Maj USAF (Ret), owner and CEO of Lickee's & Chewy's Candies & Creamery in Dover, NH, addressed to Senator Shaheen and committee members, dated November 15, 2023. The testimony concerns veteran entrepreneurship and the Small Business Administration's role in assisting veteran small business owners. It describes growing the business with help from the Small Business Development Center and SBA loans, including a need to borrow about $250,000 for construction, equipment and inventory, and start-up costs closer to $350K. It says a later $55k SBA Express loan had its fee waived during the COVID pandemic, and argues that loan fees tend to deplete starting capital. It closes by supporting the Heroes Business Opportunity Act, which would waive the SBA Guaranty Fee for loans made to veterans.

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Chris Guerrette, Maj USAF (Ret)
Owner/CEO, Lickee’s & Chewy’s Candies & Creamery, Dover NH

Senator Shaheen and committee members, thank you for inviting me to testify
today. It is an honor to provide testimony on veteran entrepreneurship and the
Small Business Administration’s role in assisting veteran small business owners.

I am a retired Air Force officer and the owner and creator of Lickee’s & Chewy’s
Candies & Creamery in Dover, NH. It is a 5000sf candy, ice cream and chocolate
shop that hosts an average of 40,000 guests per year, employs 20 people (6 full
time) and we are currently expanding into an additional 5000sf of space to build a
chocolate factory and warehouse. None of this would have been possible without
the support of the SBA, the Small Business Development Center and the programs
that support veteran small business owners such as the Boots to Business program.

My journey began shortly after I retired from the Air Force in 2014 when a small
candy shop in the town I lived in came up for sale. Seeing as I love candy and
because I had always wanted to work for myself, I decided to meet with the current
owner, just to see if there was any reason not to buy it. It was an easy choice, and
in late 2014 I took ownership of the small 500sf shop. At the time, I was also
working full time as a GS-13 at Hanscom Air Force Base so my wife ran the shop
during the day and at night I would come in and make chocolates, order products,
and put out new displays. Long story short, our sales grew and grew and in Sept
2016 I left my government job to go “full time candy” with grand plans to build a
newer much large store. My plan was to expand and build a new 5000sf shop that
would be become a destination. Thankfully, I was working with an advisor from
the New Hampshire SBA Small Business Development Center and we worked for
months on the business plan, funding options and business design. He helped to
match me with banks in the area to apply for and secure SBA loans to provide the
capital necessary to get things going. I needed to borrow about $250,000 for
construction expenses, equipment purchases and inventory.

Granted, the $250K was a best guess estimate and as you can imagine there are
often several unexpected expenses that come up during the early stages of starting
and/or growing a business. Our actual start-up/build out costs ended up closer to
$350K, which we paid for with our own cash and credit. The extra expenses
included construction costs, higher equipment costs, and several other items
including loan fees. It can be frustrating and a challenge to pay fees and expenses
for items that do not directly result in creating profits for a small business. It is one
thing to pay for tangible items such as new equipment or construction that can
directly result in increased business or at least in creating smoother business
operating conditions but fees tend to deplete starting capital and put a new business
“further behind the eight ball” or further in the hole before they have even opened
their doors. Thankfully, our business took off and we were able to pay back our
loans and continue to grow. As a matter of fact, we also borrowed another $55k a
couple years ago to purchase more equipment using an SBA Express loan where
thankfully the fee was waived because cashflow was tight at that time due to the
COVID pandemic.

The frequent and multiple unplanned expenses when starting or growing a business
can be high and create barriers to starting a business or even create a financial
hardship under which a new business will not succeed and in the event that is a
veteran with 4, 6 or 10 years of service who is relying on their new business to be
successful in order to make ends meet then they will need all the help they can get.
It is legislation such as the Heroes Business Opportunity Act waiving the SBA
Guaranty Fee for loans made to veteran that creates another tool making it easier
for veteran owned businesses to access capital and will “quietly” but powerfully
help veteran owned small businesses succeed.


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