SBA Success Story: Elevated Technologies

My name is Nate McFadden. I'm the president of Elevated Technologies. We are exclusively dedicated to the elevator industry. So anything that you can think of that an elevator might need, that's what we do, is we service, repair, and install elevators. I came into the elevator industry from the Marine Corps. I was an infantry officer for nearly 10 years. And when I separated from active service, I joined one of the global elevator corporations and really learned the ropes for about 10 years before acquiring my own elevator company. I think we're meeting up with Jim. Right. My ability to buy an existing company that's established and successful was only made possible through an SBA backed loan. And then from that point, working with the veterans business outreach center did quite a bit to help connect us with different organizations and resources that ended up being important to us as we were starting out. I need to go next door, but it was great to connect with you, Jim. Good seeing you. Job's looking great. Thank you so much, Jason.

Typically, the clients that come to us, they're looking for business plan preparation, help with getting a loan, market research. But it's not a one size fits all when it comes to us with counseling. Every client is different. So we really try to sit down with that client, determine what their needs are and how to help them get to where they want to be. I had a couple things here that I thought would be relevant for our conversation today geared around government contracting. Nate came to us already having a business, already having a loan. But what Nate demonstrated to me from the very beginning was I don't know what, I don't know, but I need your help. So I really recommended that he move forward with getting his service disabled veteran business verification. And that was really what propelled Nate into getting into the federal market, was being able to go after and bid and win those federal set aside contracts. Nothing but luck. Thank you. Your contributions have been another critical component to Nate's success, I feel is not only did he have his federal certification, but he also received a third party certification as a service disabled veteran business owner to go after corporate contracting opportunities that helped him increase his revenue. It's a differentiator. And look at where he is now. He's in 35 states. He's, you know, multimillion dollar business, receiving nationally recognized awards now. And he is really the epitome of what I think a success entrepreneur or veterpreneur really is.

I didn't have a vision for myself as an entrepreneur as I was working my way up in corporate America. There came a point though, where I achieved a certain level of competence in the industry I was in and saw some of the shortcomings of large corporations and thought it would be wonderful to own my own company and. And try to meet needs that I see in the marketplace that exist. And these were gaps that were very meaningful. These are gaps that have to do with safety, that have to do with the performance of the equipment and how the customer is served. And so when I look at the future for our company, I don't necessarily think about it in terms of number of employees or top line. I think about it in terms of being a standard bearer for quality and for doing things the right way. For those that are considering entrepreneurship or business ownership, I would encourage them to do so. I think there's a lot of opportunity to craft something that you feel good about, whatever industry it is. Having access to the network of resources that the SBA can connect us with is critical. And thinking about what the VBOC did for us above and beyond some of these connections and some of the technical advice they gave us, just knowing that somebody's rooting for you and that there are resources available if things come up, whether the questions are large or small, knowing that there's somebody there to. If they know the answer, wonderful. If not, they'll engage the proper channels to help you get the answers. But just knowing that there was that organization in our corner gave us some confidence that we were doing things right.