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Solvang CapitalSolvang CapitalEstablished 2012

Credit forthe harvest cycle.

We finance vineyards, orchards and the businesses around them on the cycle they actually earn on — money out at planting, repaid at sale.

Apply for a facilityWhat we do, in detail
Facility
$2M–$20M
Term
One growing season
Repayment
At sale, not monthly
Founded
2012
Growers financed
260
Deployed
$580M
Losses since 2012
0.4%

34°35′44″N 120°08′16″W

Solvang, California

A monthly repayment schedule is an odd thing to ask of a crop that pays once a year.

Banks lend against the land and then demand payments in months when nothing is sold. We lend against the crop and take repayment when it clears, which is how growers have always actually financed a season.

We have written 260 facilities since 2012 and lost four tenths of a percent. Knowing the difference between a bad year and a bad operator is most of the job.

Every grower has a bad year. We underwrite what they did in the last one.
Established 2012

Before we start

  1. 01

    Three seasons of history

    Enough to have had one bad year and shown us how it was handled.

  2. 02

    A buyer already lined up

    A contract, a co-op, a broker. Somewhere the crop is going.

  3. 03

    Skin in the ground

    Owned or long-leased acreage. We do not finance a one-season tenancy.

One facility, one season

Drawn when the work happens · repaid when the crop clears

  1. Feb

    Pruning

    Draw 30%

  2. Apr

    Planting and inputs

    Draw 45%

  3. Jul

    Canopy and water

    Draw 25%

  4. Sep

    Harvest

    No payment due

  5. Nov

    Crush and sale

    Repayment

Nothing is due in the months a vineyard earns nothing. That is the entire product.

The people

Everyone here, and what each of them actually does.

25 people across Solvang and Walla Walla. The list is complete — there is no second bench.

  1. 01Amanda NorwoodManaging Partner
  2. 02Brandon EllsworthManaging Partner
  3. 03Carol WhitfieldPartner
  4. 04Edward CarringtonPartner
  5. 05Jonathan WinslowPartner
  6. 06Kimberly BeaumontPartner
  7. 07Michael BlackwoodPrincipal
  8. 08Michelle SherwoodPrincipal
  9. 09Richard ChadwickPrincipal
  10. 10Samantha BarringtonVice President
  11. 11Scott AshworthVice President
  12. 12Tyler CavendishVice President
  13. 13William EllisonAssociate
  1. 14Beatrice LarkinAssociate
  2. 15Roger UnderhillAssociate
  3. 16Eleanor FairbanksHead of Origination
  4. 17Malcolm QuimbyHead of Underwriting
  5. 18Adele BramwellHead of Portfolio
  6. 19Theodore KingsburyChief Financial Officer
  7. 20Sylvia ThorndikeChief Compliance Officer
  8. 21Margaret PembertonGeneral Counsel
  9. 22Roland AshcroftDirector of Research
  10. 23Vivian HollisterInvestor Relations
  11. 24Arthur StandishHead of Operations
  12. 25Constance DanforthFund Controller

Open role

We are hiring a credit analyst, in Solvang.

Agricultural lending experience, and a willingness to spend harvest in the field rather than the office.

Write to us