Carolina Mattress Guild

SBA 504 Loan Program Borrower Success Story

Owners: Neal and Kathy Grigg
Lending Partner:  Interim Financing: BB&T; Permanent Financing: Bank of N.C.          
Location: Thomasville, N.C.
Project: Construction of new 65,000 square-foot. building; $2.24 million
Community Impact: 69 (59 low-income) jobs maintained; 21 new jobs (all low-income)

In 2000, Neal and Kathy Grigg realized they needed a more efficient facility in order to boost production at their mattress manufacturing plant in High Point. So they took out an SBA 504 loan to construct a 65,000 square-foot facility on 10 acres in Thomasville, strategically located near Bassett and Thomasville Furniture on Business Interstate 85.

“Using an SBA 504 loan to finance this big decision was a no-brainer,” says Neal, CMG’s president. “All the work was on the front end, and with BB&T, Bank of North Carolina and Self-Help on board, we didn’t really have to think about it.”

Carolina Mattress Guild has been very successful, with 70 full-time employees now. It was the first bedding producer in the industry to add fire-resistant protection to its bedding lines in 2003, a cutting-edge move that helped the company garner lots of attention from the industry and media.

“The FR beds really have helped us show that you don’t have to be a national producer to be a leader,” said Neal. “Innovation, design and efficiencies are the keys to our success.”

Neal is a bedding veteran of Leggett & Platt where he worked for 26 years prior to founding CMG in 1991 with his wife, Kathy. Within the first 10 years of opening CMG the Griggs boosted their workforce from five to 70 employees, outgrew three facilities and became one of the state’s largest independent manufacturers of residential, youth and futon mattresses.

But the company hasn’t been immune to fierce challenges. In 2001, just a year after moving into their new facility, a welding accident sparked a fire that nearly devastated the entire building. The exterior of the building remained intact, but 10,000 feet had to be entirely rebuilt and the rest of the building gutted. To make matters worse, no raw materials or finished goods survived the fire. As a result, CMG saw a 30% drop in sales.

“It was a horrible tragedy that we barely survived, but something like that makes you really go back and work hard,” said Neal. “Our workforce stepped up to the plate in our greatest time of need,” remembers Neal. “ They came in on their own and worked in the dark, in the cold of January, in water nearly eight inches deep. They did whatever it took to get the job done.”

It only took about two years for CMG to fully recover, and it posted at 25% increase in sales annually for the next several years.

“Our work provides financial means as well as a feeling of self-worth,” says Neal.

Today, CMG is as successful as ever, boasting zero inventory, will all mattresses made to order using a state-of-the art electronic inventory management system. Management has ambitious future plans, and is trying to patent a new technology that may give them a vital competitive edge in the industry.

For more information, visit www.CarolinaMattressGuild.com