Champlain Valley Specialty, Inc. had a significant year of growth in 2009. “We made a strategic decision to focus our operation strictly on slicing apples and being the best at that,” said Jeremy Dygert, Vice President of Operations. The strategy has paid dividends, as Champlain Valley Specialty has realized almost a 100% growth in annual revenues versus the previous year’s performance. They recently received financing from Berkshire Bank to purchase a Fresh Appeal® food processing system, which should be installed by spring of 2010. The state of the art system will be the first introduction of the technology into the United States. Processing their apples with the system will provide an unrivaled level of sanitation and increase the shelf quality of their fresh apple slices through a patented process.

The company invested in the technology to improve their market position as an industry leader in food safety best practices. Champlain Valley Specialty returned to the North County SBDC in 2008 to develop financial projections for a loan to consolidate debt that resulted from the rapid expansion of their business. They were approved for an SBA guaranteed loan with Berkshire Bank. Jeremy Dygert commented, “We are so thankful for the SBDC. Without the help of the SBDC, we would not have executed on several of our projects. We will continue to count on the SBDC for assistance as we continue to explore new markets for growth.”