Venture firm moving to SLC

Atlas Management Partners LLC of Salt Lake City said Tuesday it is taking over management of publicly traded small-business investment company MorAmerica Capital Corp. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and moving it to Salt Lake City.

By Lesley Mitchell
The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Feb/02252004/business/business.asp

The move, which Gov. Olene Walker will announce today at a news conference, will bring only a handful of new jobs to the state, but the company will provide an important source of capital to small businesses, said Kent Madsen, president and managing member of Atlas.

Small-business investment companies, which are licensed and regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration, make venture capital investments. They are privately owned and managed but are able to borrow money at discounted rates with SBA guarantees.

MorAmerica is a nationwide investor in small businesses, primarily in later-stage, nontechnology companies that receive on average $1 million to $2.5 million in funding each, Madsen said.

"There are not a lot of players with this focus in Utah," Madsen said.

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# MorAmerica Capital Corp.:

David R. Schroder, President

Robert A. Comey, Executive Vice President

InvestAmerica Investment Advisors, Inc.

101 2nd Street SE., Suite 800

Cedar Rapids, IA 52401

Ph: (319) 363-8249 FAX: (319) 363-9683

Preferred Investment Size: $750,000 to $1.3M
Investment Policy: Sub Debt or Pref Stock-Warrants
Investment Type: Expansion, Later Stage, MB0/LBO Acq.
Industry Preference: Manufacturing, Service, Retail
Geographic Preference: National

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Atlas Management owns a 40 percent stake in MorAmerica Capital, and effective March 1 it will take over management of the company from InvestAmerica of Cedar Rapids. As part of the change, Madsen will be named president and chief executive of MorAmerica.

Madsen said Atlas has three full-time and three-part time employees and over time will hire about five additional people in Salt Lake City.

"The goal would be to grow and build the company and over time open offices in other parts of the country," Madsen said.

Founded in 1959, MorAmerica Capital is among the oldest small-business investment companies in the country.

Brad Bertoch, director of the Wayne Brown Institute, a Utah organization that helps companies obtain funding, said having such an established and well-known business investment company join Utah’s venture capital community is big news.

He said venture capital and business investment companies often invest the most money in the region where they are located. That could mean more deals for Utah. "It’s easier to visit a deal that’s close than far away," he said.

In addition, investment companies often attract other investors to the area.

"This," Bertoch said, "will translate into jobs, jobs and more jobs."