A Navy veteran operating an HVAC service company from North Charleston wanted to add three trucks and hire technicians to capture growth in Goose Creek's expanding residential subdivisions. His two-year business showed consistent revenue but lacked the financial history most banks demand for unsecured credit. Hazelcrest packaged his DD-214, business tax returns, customer contracts, and equipment quotes into an SBA Express application emphasizing his 12 years of shipboard mechanical systems experience. An SBA Express lender approved $275,000 within three weeks, waiving the $10,313 guarantee fee under Veterans Advantage. The capital covered truck purchases, tool inventory, and three months of payroll during technician onboarding, letting him fulfill contracts that doubled revenue within six months.
This outcome required documentation clarity: the lender needed proof that HVAC licensing, insurance, and contractor bonds were current, that customer contracts were assignable as secondary collateral, and that the veteran owner held majority equity. Hazelcrest's broker role meant coordinating between the borrower, the lender's underwriter, and the SBA's Charleston district office to resolve questions in hours rather than waiting days for email replies. That speed preserved the seasonal window when HVAC demand peaks across the Lowcountry.
