Business Loans in Finger Lakes Wine Country

A lake-effect region built around slow products

The Finger Lakes are eleven long, narrow lakes, with Seneca, Cayuga, Skaneateles, Owasco, Keuka and Canandaigua counted as the major ones. Seneca Lake is more than 38 miles long, and the lakes are deep enough to moderate temperatures along the shores, which is the reason vineyards flank them. The region is New York's largest wine-producing area, and the 1976 Farm Winery Act opened the door to tasting rooms across it. Craft breweries have grown here as well.

The state wine industry is large: about 507 producers and 4.71 million winery visitors are counted for New York as a whole, with Finger Lakes reported as having more than 140 wineries. Those figures describe the industry, not any one owner's results, but they explain why tourism and production sit side by side here.

The wine business cash cycle, step by step

1. Grow. Vineyard labor, trellis repair, spraying and equipment are paid for through the year.
2. Harvest. A short window demands extra crews, bins, trucks and fuel at once.
3. Crush and age. Tanks, barrels, bottling and labels are bought long before a bottle sells.
4. Sell. Tasting rooms, wine clubs and distributors bring cash back, often in a few peak months and wine-club cycles.

The cost curve and the revenue curve rarely match, which is the plain reason a producer might want a working-capital line.

More than wineries

• Tasting rooms and restaurants that depend on summer and fall weekends.
• Inns and bed-and-breakfasts in places like Geneva, Canandaigua, Keuka and Skaneateles lake villages.
• Farms and orchards selling to the visitor trade.
• Event and wedding venues with deposits taken far ahead and costs paid close to the event.
• Contractors and tradespeople building and repairing all of the above.

The counties usually grouped here are Ontario, Seneca, Yates, Schuyler, Tompkins, Cayuga and Steuben. The boundaries are approximate.

What we can say, and an illustration

We fund $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours. We consider FICO 500+, review about three months of business bank statements, do not require tax returns and use a soft credit pull. The application takes about five minutes. Sole proprietors can apply.

For illustration only, with round numbers that are not our terms: a Seneca Lake tasting room wants to add a covered patio for $55,000 before the fall season. The right question is whether the added capacity brings in enough extra weekend visitors to cover the payment in the winter months too. If it does not, a smaller project may fit better.

Keep reading

See the Finger Lakes Wine Country overview, the wine country financing guide and the county pages for Ontario, Seneca, Yates and Tompkins. Ready to begin? Start the application.