GSBDC Finances New SERVPRO Facility

The Greater Syracuse Business Development Corporation (GSBDC) recently provided an SBA 504 loan to J. Halko, Inc. (JHI) for the purchase and renovation of a former DHL/Airborne facility at 6800 Northern Boulevard, East Syracuse, NY.  The new location is approximately two miles from their former space at 6700 Thompson Road in East Syracuse and almost triples their space with 29,600 sq. ft as compared to their former leased space of just 10,000 sq. ft.

The new building includes 4,000 sq. ft. of offices, 23,600 sq. ft. of warehouse/storage space and 2,000 sq. ft. of space designated for garage/repair work to accommodate all their service vehicles.  According to John Halko, President and owner of JHI, “This building was perfect for us.  Not only did it triple our space, but it was big enough for us to add our clean room system allowing us to expand our services.  Also, the multiple overhead doors along with the garage and repair space lets us load the trucks the night before and keep them safe inside from vandalism and ready to go in the morning.”

The minor building improvements included electrical upgrades for the installation of the new clean room system, HVAC and plumbing work and some adjustments to the interior partitions to accommodate the minor reconfiguring required by JHI.  The new building not only provided the additional space needed to accommodate their continued growth but also allowed for the installation of a much needed “Clean Room” which is essentially a modular machine that moves items on a conveyor through a series of cleaning processes without requiring repeated handling by the employees.  This results in a more efficient cleaning system, less damage and less possibility of items becoming separated.

John Halko has owned J. Halko, Inc. since 1993 when he purchased his first Servpro franchise.  He has steadily grown the business with the acquisition of two additional Servpro franchises in the Central New York area.  Combined, the three franchises cover North and East Onondaga County as well as all of Oswego County.  Servpro franchises offer water and fire damage restoration; carpet and upholstery cleaning; mold and bio-hazard remediation; and auto carpet cleaning according to the specifications of the SERVPRO Industries, Inc. franchise.  The SERVPRO franchise is a family owned business that was started in 1969 and now has more than 1500 franchises nationwide.

The SBA 504 program provided a 20 year fixed rate second mortgage with M & T Bank providing financing in a first mortgage position.  Patrick O’Neil, Vice President, M & T Bank commented, “Servpro has been a loyal client of M & T Bank for several years.  When Mr. Halko approached us with the opportunity to expand his business by purchasing the subject property, the SBA 504 program was a natural fit.  Peggy Adams and her team at the GSBDC are an excellent resource that made the process easy.”