“I finally said ‘Enough’s enough, I need some help,’ and went to the (Small Business Administration), but my first attempt was not a good one,” Teresa said. “When I finally said that was enough running around, I went straight to the D.C. office and got a hold of the right person, and it was done within 20 days. Tom White directed me to Frank Hinzman at (Citizens National Bank) in Elkins.”

Bland Fencing recently received a $350,000 loan through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which Teresa said “just means everything to the business.”

Richard, 42, started the company in 2000 after serving four years in the military, including one year in Korea’s Demilitarized Zone. He was born in Petersburg but raised in Maryland, and wanted to return to West Virginia when he was honorably discharged. Teresa said he began helping farmers in the area build their fences in 1993 and realized there was a need for an experienced fence builder.

Teresa serves as the company’s bookkeeper, bringing experience in accounting for BP Exploration and Ernst & Young CPAs in Washington, D.C. She said she’s currently attending Eastern West Virginia Community College in Moorefield, majoring in business, to round out her business skills.

Teresa said the company has received recommendations from Delegate Harold Michael, D-Hardy. She said the company also works closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency programs, which provide funding to farmers for things like clean water programs. That funding, in turn, provides business for Bland Fencing.

“Agriculture accounts for probably 75 percent of our income,” she said. “It’s been tough for the past several years, as we went through the recession, but we’re definitely seeing a turn already this spring, and this loan has made all the difference.

“Now we can purchase our materials by the truckload, literally saving half our outflows and materials cost. That’s going to make a huge impact to our bottom line.”

Teresa said Bland Fencing supports small farmers not only in building their fences but also in buying the farm products for fence posts.

The lender for the SBA loan was Frank Hinzman from Citizens National Bank in Elkins.

Teresa described Hinzman as an “Honest Abe,” and said he listened to their presentation and let the company’s track record speak for itself.

“It was fortunate that they did increase the guarantee limit from 75 percent to 90 percent,” Hinzman said. “I didn’t know a lot about the company, so I called some of their customers, and one I called here in our area … said he’d recommend them to anybody.

“People think of the SBA as the people doing the lending, not the banker themselves, … but the more I can use this program, the better.”

Teresa said it’s important to the company to build on its reputation, since farmers construct new sections of fence each year, not entire farms.

“Repeat business is very important when you build a product that lasts 30 years,” she said. “Farmers can’t afford to build fences around 300 acres at once, so what they do is one year build a mile then the next year build another mile.”

Teresa said being able to maintain a quality staff is important to the company’s mission.

“As our mission statement says, quality fencing begins with quality employees,’ and without them, we couldn’t maintain the reputation of expertise that we have over the last nine years we have been in business,” she said. “We went as high as eight full-time employees in 2005, and this past year, we cut that down to four, but now we see ourselves with this loan and the opportunities it’s bringing going up to maybe as high as eight employees.”

Teresa said the company has never had to start over on a fence, but has walked away from jobs.

“If the client says they’re absolutely not paying for concrete under a board fence, we won’t do it,” she said. “Because we know it will fall over and we won’t be liable for that.”

Teresa said in addition to farming and agriculture business, about 10 percent of Bland Fencing’s business is commercial construction, and the rest comes from what they call “farmettes,” for residents who work in Washington, D.C. or Maryland but keep a second home in West Virginia or even commute.

She said the loan has enabled them to sell materials to the public through a shop on Highway 42 in Petersburg, and Bland Fencing also has plans to eventual create a store to sell fencing products to farmers.

“Through our business plan, we want to create jobs,” she said. “We’re not going to sell grains or flowers, we want to sell only fencing materials to the farmer, and one of the specific things that’s not offered anywhere else is the Locust fence post.”

Information about Bland Fencing can be found at www.blandfencing.com