Right mix of money and resources helps cabinetmaker blossom in Bridger

BRIDGER – Bret Christensen was on the brink of taking a major step with his business
if only he could align the financing and find a suitable location.

By DAN BURKHART
Of The Gazette Staff

Since 1989 Prairie Cabinets, working from a pole barn in Shepherd, had nudged its
way into high end markets. The custom cabinet builder had a sales office in Billings. It’s
market was predominantly residential with its product in 22 states.
It used good woods, the ones wealthy clients wanted and could afford. If they wanted cherry cabinets,
Christensen used cherry. Walnut, mahogany, maple, hickory and exotic rosewoods were mainstays. Using
reclaimed lumber was another important facet of Prairie Cabinet’s repertoire.

"We did some really fine work using reclaimed wood from pickle vats," he said. "It might not sound good,
but they turned out beautifully."

Most of his clients weren’t as cost conscious as quality conscious, he said. That’s why Prairie Cabinets
installs as well as builds the custom product.
Word spread. Demand followed.
"We were at a point where I felt we could really take off," Christensen, 40, said. "We had good relationships
with clients and word-of-mouth advertising was really getting us noticed."
But the devil was in the details when it came to expansion. Christensen needed a larger manufacturing
site. He needed to upgrade and add equipment.

And, like many Montana businesses, he needed the money to restructure and the wherewithal to refinance.
"My forte, what I really do best, is working with people. I’m good at designing what they want and making
sure what they get is what they expected," he said. "In the process there are a thousand details and any one of
them can crater a project. I like dealing with those obstacles."
The complexities of financing were another matter. That’s when Christensen met Al Jones, a regional
development director with the state Department of Commerce.
"He’s a genius at creative financing," Christensen said of Jones.
Jones and Christensen are members of the same church, but before they met to discuss how Jones might
help, "we hardly knew each other," Christensen said.

What Jones knew was where a building was located which might be ideal for Prairie Cabinets. It was a
former mercantile converted to a furniture plant and used by Yellowstone Furniture. It was located on Bridger’s
main street and Bridger wanted it occupied.
Jones knew it might need some work, but the basics were in place.
"It already had the three phase electrical Prairie would need. It had a freight elevator. It had been used for
wood working," Jones said.
It also had a motivated landlord and an inspired town council, he added.

"I encourage my clients to rent rather than buy and this looked like a good deal," Jones said.
The financing represented the best in meshing local, state and federal programs. From Bridger there came
a $20,000 loan to cover moving expenses.
That money was available from the city’s revolving loan fund which had helped Yellowstone Furniture.
Originally the money came from the Community Block Development Grant program.
"The repayment meant there was money to help another business like Prairie Cabinets," Jones said.
"That’s exactly the way it’s supposed to work. The city gets the money to loan out. It keeps the money when it’s
repaid. It then loans out the money to other small businesses."
Next, working with First Interstate Bank, Christensen’s longtime financial institution, Jones helped put
together a Small Business Administration loan.

"It was for restructuring, adding equipment and refinancing," Jones said.
The last part of the financial formula was "gap financing" provided by the Beartooth Resource and
Conservation’s economic development program.
"Gap financing is basically what the total project requires less what the bank will take care of," Beartooth
RC&D coordinator James Klessens said.
Within the region that includes Yellowstone, Big Horn, Carbon, Stillwater and Sweetgrass counties,
Klessens’ agency has provided more than $500,000 through its revolving loan program to finance 10 projects.

For Prairie Cabinets, $52,000 was what was needed to round out the package. The loans are on a five-year
repayment plan.
"This kind of collaboration is what it takes to get something like this done," Beartooth RC & D community
relations director Betty Curry said. "It’s a partnership of local, state and federal programs in the best sense."
And for those fearing bureaucratic red tape, consider it was all done in less than four months, Christensen
said.

"It can seem overwhelming when you first look at doing something like this because you need to have all
kinds of facts and figures and it seems like there’s endless forms, but with the help I got, it went well," he said.
Prairie Cabinets moved into its new location in February. It uses three floors of the mercantile with its
showcase windows facing Bridger’s main street.
"I love it. It’s a great building," Christensen said. "It’s wonderful to be able to look outside and see what the
weather is."

It’s a good deal for Bridger, Jones said. Besides the eight fulltime jobs it brings to town, there’s a good
chance between three and five more new ones will be added in the near future.
The jobs pay an average $25,000.
"That was another plus for locating in Bridger. There was a skilled labor pool here because of Yellowstone
Furniture," Jones said.
Noting an economic study of manufacturing’s contribution to a local economy, Jones said for every dollar
put into the economy by Prairie Cabinet "there is a seven to nine times turn over."

"Those are fresh dollars that multiply," he said. "And it puts it on the tax rolls."
While most of the Prairie Cabinet workers commute now, Jones expects eventually they may decide to
locate in the Bridger area.
"Even if they don’t, many of those dollars will still circulate in Bridger," Klessens said. "They buy gas and
food even if they’re commuting."
For Christensen, the future looks pretty bright. His company is doing custom cabinet work for several
million dollar homes in a new San Francisco suburb. Thirty percent of Pairie’s work is in California, a high-end
market.
Christensen has high praise for the agencies that helped him, from the state Commerce Department to the
regional RC&D.

"They created the impetus to make it possible. They knew how to put together a difficult deal and pull
together resources few know about," he said.
It means Christensen can concentrate on what he likes and does best.
"It’s a thrill to me to be able to turn a pile of sticks into beautiful wall cabinets. Sometimes it’s like piecing
together a complex jigsaw puzzle to fit an oddly shaped space," he said.

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