Fri, Jul 18 2008
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Published May 15, 2008 07:14 pm - BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — King Louie America is seeking to increase its credit line to buy more raw materials because business is so good, said owner Mike Lerner. Baxter Springs company seeks to increase credit line By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — King Louie America is seeking to increase its credit line to buy more raw materials because business is so good, said owner Mike Lerner. The company makes imprinted apparel for the promotional products industry. Lerner said the company has about 180 employees. “Our business has gotten very good,” Lerner said about the need to increase the company’s credit line with UMB Bank. “We’ve increased our inventory. Sales are on track to increase by $1.5 million this year. We need the extra working capital to build our inventory.” Lerner bought the company in 2006, when it was called King Louie International. It had 163 employees and was scheduled for closure when Lerner stepped in. Lerner is the son of Morris Lerner, who with his brothers operated the Baxter Springs company as Lerner Brothers Manufacturing, starting in 1946. Mayor Huey York said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that King Louie was seeking an $800,000 loan from the Kansas Department of Commerce. The council approved sending a letter to UMB Bank that York said would reflect that the city was subordinating its position on the loan. York said the action wouldn’t obligate the city in any way, but if the company ever was forced to liquidate its assets, the city also wouldn’t receive anything. Lerner said Thursday that York was incorrect about the loan from the Department of Commerce. He said because the Department of Commerce was involved in a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant the company received last year, the company needs the agency’s permission to increase its credit line with its bank. As a provision of the grant, the company added $750,000 of its own money. “We’re not eligible for anything else from the Department of Commerce,” Lerner said. He said the company may expand in Baxter Springs in the future. “If things keep going the way they are, we’re going to need to expand,” Lerner said. He said the company has not been affected by the economic downturn nationally. “We haven’t noticed any impact from the credit crunch,” Lerner said. “Of course, the banks we’re dealing with aren’t making subprime loans.” 
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