Dane County Loan to Help DeForest Company Create Jobs, Manufacture Products for Disney, Others

<p> &lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center&quot;&gt; &lt;em&gt;Dane County Looks to Extend $350,000 Loan to Rapidly Growing Local Business &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced today the county intends to provide a $350,000 economic development loan to help an innovative, locally-owned business expand its operations in DeForest and create dozens of new jobs.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The company, Imagination Trends, is a new graphics retail manufacturing company that teamed up with licensee holder and distributor, Retail Sales Solutions to mass produce interactive play posters under a Disney license.&amp;nbsp; Imagination Trends estimates sales to reach $4.5 million by the 2010 holiday season.&amp;nbsp; Toy Story 3, Cars, Princesses, and the Great Fairy Rescue are the first of these posters being produced with others to follow, including scenes from your favorite Marvel Comic characters.&amp;nbsp; Imagination Trends estimates production of these &amp;ldquo;You Make a Scene&amp;rdquo; poster boxed sets of these movies will generate 25-35 new full-time jobs.&amp;nbsp; Some of these will include employment opportunities for Department of Vocational Rehabilitation clients who have disabilities that might otherwise limit their ability to work.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;re proud to help this home-grown Dane County business create more new jobs and expand its production of fun and exciting products for kids and families,&amp;rdquo; County Executive Kathleen Falk said.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The $350,000 Dane County loan, combined with $400,000 in private equity investment, will be used to buy high-tech printing equipment to help Imagination Trends process orders and generate revenue needed to secure a Small Business Administration bank loan.&amp;nbsp; That additional capital will help buy nearly another $1-million in equipment to mass produce the company&amp;rsquo;s interactive merchandise.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s challenging to find banks and lenders willing to take a chance on an up and coming locally-owned business like Imagination Trends, but securing this loan through Dane County will help us turn our innovative vision into reality,&amp;rdquo; Lisa Pertzborn-Whiting, CEO of Imagination Trends said.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; In addition to working with their distributor that holds the Disney license, Imagination Trends is creating samples for Universal Studios/Harry Potter and other national brands that will soon be seen on store shelves for the holiday season.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Imagination Trends is located at 7208 Gene Street, Suite 101 in DeForest.&amp;nbsp; The company works with RSS of Waunakee, a sales, marketing, and distribution partner, to provide their merchandise for retailers.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &amp;ldquo;This application is one of the best opportunities for Dane County&amp;rsquo;s economic growth. This is the kind of business we want in our county so I&amp;rsquo;m very proud to have been able to help out,&amp;rdquo; said Supervisor Dennis O&amp;rsquo;Loughlin, lead sponsor of the resolution authorizing the loan.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &amp;ldquo;In creating a fun, interactive product for kids, Imagination Trends will add up to 35 jobs, increase the business of local suppliers, use eco-friendly, recyclable materials and implement an innovative process that will lower energy consumption,&amp;rdquo; said Supervisor Patrick Miles, Chair of the Economic Development Committee.&amp;nbsp; &amp;ldquo;This is a worthy endeavor and I&amp;rsquo;m happy Dane County can assist Imagination Trends build successful business in our community.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The $350,000 Dane County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Economic Development Revolving Loan has a ten-year term with an interest rate of 5.25%.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The loan application was reviewed and recommended by the Dane County CDBG Commission and the CDBG Revolving Loan Subcommittee.&amp;nbsp; A resolution authorizing the loan will be introduced to the full Dane County Board tonight (Thursday, June 3&lt;sup&gt;rd&lt;/sup&gt;, 2010).&amp;nbsp; Pending approval by the County Board and signature by the County Executive, the $350,000 loan will be granted to Imagination Trends.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style=&quot;text-align: center&quot;&gt; &amp;nbsp;#&amp;nbsp; #&amp;nbsp; #&lt;/p&gt;</p>