The Healthy Pantry in Red Lodge Receives Bootstrap Montana Interest-free Loan – 2nd Loan Recipient in 2009

The Healthy Pantry http://www.thehealthypantry.com based out of Red Lodge, Montana, recently received a Bootstrap Montana http://www.bootstrapmontana.org loan. Owned and operated by Keith Lauver, The Healthy Pantry is an online business targeting the health food industry, where customers can order meals online. The company offers healthy and convenient means for family needs to inspire a healthier lifestyle. The company’s mission is to provide healthy food options for families that are easy, tasty, and accessible. The Healthy Pantry utilized the loan funds to upgrade to a newer version of their web store’s e-commerce software. To stay current with today’s popular Search Engine Marketing techniques, The Healthy Pantry invested in Google Adwords and Facebook ads to assess which keywords were driving traffic to their site and competitor’s sites, resulting in changes to their web pages to capture more visitors. Results show they went from an average of about 30 unpaid visitors per week in March and April to an average of 60 in May and 84 just last week, a great trend.

"Bootstrap Montana has provided capital that’s absolutely critical at this stage in our growth" says owner and operator, Keith Lauver. "With Bootstrap Montana’s assistance, we’ve been able to undertake three initiatives: 1) upgrading our web site, 2) sending samples to key people like bloggers, editors, and industry ‘influencers’, and 3) hiring another person for order fulfillment." Lauver goes on to say "Bootstrap Montana’s review process helped us think critically about the activities that would create the highest and fastest returns. We’re already seeing very direct results from the loan– our visitors from search engines like Google doubled in our first month!"

The goal of the Bootstrap Montana Loan Program is to create jobs in rural Montana by providing Montana entrepreneurs with 0% interest loans for projects which will provide fast return on investment. Funds are targeted for projects that have a direct effect on increasing sales. The program increases the level of employment in the state, brings new sales revenue into the state, and increases the competitiveness of Montana companies. Gary Bloomer, Director of Client Development at TechRanch http://www.techranch.org says ―The Healthy Pantry represents an ideal loan opportunity for the Bootstrap Montana Loan Program. The company is mainly deriving its revenue from outside of Montana and thus bringing new money into the state and growing our economy. Beyond that, we are pleased to extend a loan to a company that is, at its core, working to address serious social issues related to nutrition and family interaction at meal time.

2009 marks Bootstrap Montana’s second year of establishment, awarding 14 loans to date. The Bootstrap Montana Loan Program was seeded by Greg Gianforte, CEO of Bozeman-based RightNow Technologies http://www.rightnow.com and head of the Gianforte Family Charitable Trust in late 2007. The program seeks to loan funds to Montana entrepreneurs who embrace the business development philosophy of ‘bootstrapping’—or growing a company without the aid of outside (equity) investment capital.

Bootstrap Montana, http://www.bootstrapmontana.org, is an initiative created by the Gianforte Family Charitable Trust and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is administered by Montana’s foremost not-for-profit business accelerator, TechRanch. 0% interest loans are available to small Montana businesses through the program, as well as the opportunity to attend the seminars. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.