BATON ROUGE, La. — Advantage Capital Partners, a venture capital and small-business finance firm, has provided $4 million in financing to Westport Linen Services LLC, which provides linen services to hospitals and healthcare centers in southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Westport Linen is using the funds to relocate to a larger facility, expand its operations and hire new employees in Baton Rouge.
Westport Linen recently settled into a newly renovated, 45,000-square-foot facility in Baton Rouge. The company has been steadily increasing its work force with more growth expected, according to Westport Linen owner Eddie Lefeaux.
“Our exclusive focus on the healthcare linen industry is what sets us apart from most of our competitors in the area,” says Lefeaux. “Westport Linen offers a more cost-effective solution than on-premise laundry facilities, and we also offer pickup and delivery service to our 65-plus customers. The funding from our investment partners will catapult our company into the next phase of growth and allow us to actively pursue more business in the region.”
Westport Linen operates under long-term contracts for the majority of its customers, processing more than 260,000 pounds of retail linen per week. In addition, Westport Linen is the only healthcare laundry in southeast Louisiana that is certified by the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC), the company says.
“Our investment, made possible by the Louisiana New Markets program, will enable the company to grow and create several dozen new jobs, which is good news in an otherwise downward business cycle,” adds Justin Obletz, vice president of Advantage Capital.
Advantage Capital made its investment in Westport Linen Services with funds raised in connection with Louisiana’s New Markets Development program and the federal New Markets Tax Credit program. Both programs are designed to stimulate economic growth in communities that historically have been underserved by traditional sources of capital. Westport also received $2.7 million from IberiaBank, bringing the total amount of financing to $6.7 million.
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