With the help of a loan backed by the SBA, one local apparel manufacturer is seeing her business grow at home and overseas. 

Lisa Hutson, the owner of The Hiviz in Batesville, Indiana, says she applied for a loan through the Small Business Association (SBA) right as her business was growing, and capital was very hard to come by. But with the help of an SBA-backed export loan, she has grown her family-operated organization and expanded its mission of making custom uniforms and apparel for manufacturing workers.

Hutson, a mom of five and a breast cancer survivor started creating spirit wear in her basement. She quickly got the idea to scale up her operation into something that filled a need in the manufacturing world. “What can I do that’s not being done?” she asked herself. She soon landed on creating clothing and apparel options for women in manufacturing. Up until then, there were very few options for pregnant women who worked in warehouses and manufacturing plants. 

She says her products help manufacturing employees feel more comfortable in the workplace, boosting morale and productivity. 

After obtaining her woman-owned business certificate, she opened her shop in Batesville. 

Hutson says exporting can be very expensive and volatile, and many banks are weary of giving out loans to exporters. But after securing an apparel manufacturing deal with Cargill, a global food products company, she knew she had to do something to secure capital for her business.

That’s when she reached out to the SBA, who connected her with the First Community Bank of Indiana, who supplied her company with an export loan. The lender will receive a 90% guarantee from the SBA. With the additional capital from the loan, Hutson can fulfill her obligation to supply apparel to Cargill manufacturing operations in the United States and Canada.  

“My goal is to leave a legacy,” Hutson says. With the hopes of one day turning her business into an employee-owned company, she says she wants her workers to feel supported and proud of the work they do each day. 

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