ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania _ John and Lisa McDonald of Schnecksville recently closed on a multi-million dollar SBA 504 construction loan that will enable them to open a second location of their family-run Leader of the Pack Canine Institute on 3 ½ acres in a Forks Township business park.

Jeff Barber of Lehigh Financial Group, LLC, arranged the combination SBA and conventional construction loan from TD Bank that the McDonalds will use to build a second facility offering training, day care, boarding, grooming and pet supplies for all breeds of dogs.

The McDonalds opened their first Leader of the Pack at 6346 Farm Bureau Road in Upper Macungie Township in 2009 and have been serving families across the Lehigh Valley from this location. “We have been wanting to open a second location that is convenient for our families that live on the East side of the Lehigh Valley,” John said. “The time was right when we found the right piece of property. We’ve decided to take a leap of faith and open a second corporate location in Forks.” Leader of the Pack Canine Institute also has a franchise offering, which the McDonalds are marketing with a regional approach for additional expansion of their pet services business.

The McDonalds hope to break ground on the new facility at 1200 Braden Boulevard in June.  When complete, it will be a 28,125 square-foot facility. It should be complete early next spring.

“It is going to be the same model as our award winning Leader of the Pack in Upper Macungie,” John said. “We will offer training, boarding, day care and grooming and do retail sales as well at our new site.”

The new location will have about 50 employees. Its current location employs 45.

Barber helped the McDonalds with arranging financing on a number of different projects over the years, including when they expanded their original site from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet.

Barber said that he is looking forward to seeing the McDonalds complete their latest project and that he excited to see the success of the second location.

“We ensure that a family’s pets are happy and comfortable whether they come for a full day or for longer boarding and that they return home safe and healthy,” Lisa said. “We thank all of our pet parents for their support and we look forward to serving many new clients at our second location,” she added.

The McDonalds were represented by Attorney Joseph Piperato of Eastburn & Gray Law Offices in Bethlehem and Paula Csaszar of Penn Star Land Transfer, LLC. Rob Millman and Todd Sparks of TD Bank funded the loan.

For more information on Leader of the Pack Canine Institute, please visit http://www.lopci.com.

Lehigh Financial Group, LLC is a leading source of innovative real estate capital solutions and financing options for commercial customers. The company, based in Allentown, serves the Lehigh Valley region by providing capital for businesses and investors locally, regionally and nationwide. For more information on Lehigh Financial Group LLC, please see our website at http://www.lehighfinancialgroup.com.

Information provided to TVL by Beth Orenstein on behalf of:
Lehigh Financial Group, LLC
122 North 5th Street
Allentown Pa 18102
http://www.lehighfinancialgroup.com/

 

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