North Dakota Opportunity Fund Helping Small Businesses

The North Dakota Opportunity Fund helps small businesses in the state get the funding they need to expand and create new jobs.

The owners of Redline Plumbing, Heating, and Air in Mandan received funding in the spring of 2019. Since then, they've been able to move into a space that better suits their needs.

Travis Berger and Jake Hollingsworth grew up together in Mandan and have been friends for years.

"We used to just ride our bikes around. A whole gang of us just had our redline pedal bikes. That's how we got the name Redline," Berger says.

"We've been friends since teenagers. Always hanging out and running around," Hollingsworth explains.

The pair went into business together after high school.

"We started plumbing together. Jake joined the army. I started doing other things, and then we both just kind of got back into plumbing," Berger says.

In spring of 2013, they started their own business, which has made great strides.

"Jake and I started out in a little trailer, pulling around pretty much the state. Whoever would pay us to go there, we just went there," Berger says.

That trailer turned into a van, which turned into a garage, which is now a fully-operational business space.

They've come a long way, thanks in part to the Lewis and Clark Development Group, which loaned about $260,000 to Redline through the Opportunity Fund.

"It just helped us get the property and the room that we needed to expand with our business with the amount of storage that we need and just for in the winter when it's cold outside. We actually have some heat in here and a place to park all our trailers," Hollingsworth says about the fund.

The loan allowed them to move into a bigger building by the start of June 2019. Plus, they were able to hire another team member.

To learn more, you can find their Facebook page by searching Redline Plumbing.