Funding for Brooklyn Navy Yard Manufacturers and Makers

A shipyard that became a manufacturing campus

The Brooklyn Navy Yard sits on Wallabout Bay on the East River in northwest Brooklyn, bounded by Navy Street, Flushing Avenue, Kent Avenue and the river. The site covers 225.15 acres and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Established in 1801, it built and repaired Navy ships through the 1960s, and its 75,000 workers in World War II earned it the nickname "The Can-Do Shipyard." It was deactivated as a military installation in 1966. Today it houses an industrial and commercial complex run by the New York City government, with both ship repair and maintenance and office and manufacturing space for non-maritime industries.

What makers need that most small businesses do not

• Machinery. Cutting, welding, printing, woodworking and fabrication equipment is expensive, long-lived and sometimes custom-installed.
• Raw material ahead of orders. A maker buys stock before the finished product ships.
• Skilled labor on payroll. Production staff are paid weekly or biweekly regardless of when customers pay.
• Wholesale customers on terms. Retail and trade buyers often pay after delivery.

Those four facts explain why a maker with a full order book can still be short of cash on a given Friday.

A production cycle in cash terms

For illustration only: a small manufacturer lands a round $80,000 order from a retailer. Raw materials cost $30,000 and are paid up front. Labor over six weeks adds $20,000. The order ships, and the customer pays in thirty days or more. By the time the check arrives, the maker has fronted $50,000 or more and two months have passed. If a second order of the same size arrives meanwhile, the maker needs the same cash again before the first has been collected.

That is the textbook case for working capital: the growth is good, the profit is real, and the timing is what strains the account.

Equipment versus inventory

Equipment purchases

A new press, CNC machine or oven raises capacity but takes weeks to install and learn. It is a fixed cost with a long-term return.

Inventory and materials

These turn faster, but the cash is out the door until the product sells. The risk is concentrated in how reliably customers pay.

Many makers need both within the same year, which is why the size of the request matters.

Applying

Funding runs from $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours. The application takes about five minutes with a soft credit pull. We review about three months of business bank statements; no tax returns are required. FICO 500 and above is considered, and sole proprietors can apply, which covers solo makers working out of a studio or shared shop.

You can start your application in a few minutes.