United Corporation

Thomas Financial Group originated, underwrote and purchased this $5 Million USDA guaranteed B&I loan. This loan is the first of five, $5 Million loans to be made to the borrower group. The loan proceeds were used to refinance debt and provide working capital.

United Corporation has two main revenue streams 1) income from supermarket operations and 2) rental income. Supermarket operations, United Corporation D/B/A Plaza Extra East, account for the majority of United Corporation’s total revenue. In 2015, United Corporation tool the opportunity to make substantial improvements to the Plaza Extra East supermarket and surrounding shopping center, resulting in upward trending revenue. In 2016, the borrower successfully purchased substantial adjacent commercial real estate. Although much of this real estate had tenants, the real value to Plaza Extra East was the availability of over 50,000 square feet of warehouse space. This warehouse space was immediately utilized for bulk inventory purchases to improve margins. In total, more than $6MM has been spent on expansion and improvements since 2015.

The goal of Plaza East is to be the premiere one-stop-shop on St. Croix. The supermarket offers thousands of well-known grocery store brands, as well as specialty foods, bulk packaged items, extensive wine and spirits, a full-service bakery, deli and fresh meat counter. Plaza East also makes sure to offer locally grown produce whenever possible. These variables have resulted in upward revenue at Plaza East every year since 2015.

United Corporation employs 242 people and even with the disastrous effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the company had no disruption of power because all of their energy comes from solar and propane. This allowed them to open immediately after the hurricanes and continue pumping and being the source of freshwater to residents. Their ice making capacity was uninterrupted so they continued to become a major source of ice on the island. After the hurricane, they installed over $500M of Tesla batteries to supplement their power generating capacity.

In summary, United Corporation is a model example of how large users of power should be self-sufficient and generate their own electricity to lower costs and protect them from natural disasters that destroy power lines.