Manufacturing and Distribution
Banking Outside the Box for Berkley International
At Berkley International, "Think Global, Act Local" applies to more than the company's burgeoning manufacturing business. It also applies to its bank – Western Alliance's Torrey Pines Bank, around the corner from CEO Jeff Berkley's home in Beverly Hills.
Based in Southern California near the country's two busiest ports, Berkley International makes environmentally friendly, molded fiber packaging that protects everything from wine to electronics. This dynamic business ranked #1 manufacturer in America on the Inc. 5000 list in 2016, the same year it was named fastest-growing L.A. company by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Berkley International also has operations in Napa Valley, Bentonville, and Suzhou near Shanghai.
Early on, the bank stepped up with a line of credit and funded the company's first piece of equipment. Now the relationship centers on servicing complex business and personal accounts. Says Berkley: "This bank understands manufacturers. They also understand things change quickly in a manufacturing environment. And they're highly supportive in helping us grow."
What's unique is we're a commercial bank with significant industry knowledge, but the above-and-beyond customer service we strive to deliver is more like the experience of private banking."
Kathleen Chapman
SVP, Beverly Hills
Regional Manager
Innovation Banking - Life Sciences
On a Mission With Bigfoot Biomedical
For almost everyone at Bigfoot Biomedical, diabetes is personal. "Our solution is something my family desperately needs," says CEO Jeffrey Brewer about the company's all-out efforts to bring to market a disruptive, new technology to make life with diabetes easier and safer.
Western Alliance's Bridge Bank saw this purpose as an intangible asset for this emerging medical device company. "This bank is a true partner. We had a number of proposals, but Bridge Bank went the extra mile to give us comfort that this would be a relationship vs. a transaction, and that is exactly how it's been," adds Brewer.
Today, dosing insulin is complicated and cumbersome, requiring multiple prescriptions and devices, and can be prone to error. Now Bigfoot is making big strides, heading toward pivotal trials for its breakthrough solutions – each part of an overarching ecosystem designed to deliver insulin in a safer, more user-friendly way for a broader range of people living with insulin-requiring diabetes.
We know our clients and this market, and what's motivating this management team to innovate and persevere just adds to Bigfoot's immense opportunity."
Rob Lake, SVP, Head of Life Sciences