LAS VEGAS – Retro Manufacturing, LLC, was recently selected by the Nevada District of the Small Business Administration (SBA) as the 2020 Nevada Exporter of the Year. Retro Manufacturing also received the added distinction of being awarded Exporter of the Year for the SBA’s Region IX, which includes Nevada, Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Guam.
Since 2014, Retro Manufacturing, located in Henderson, Nevada, has been the world’s leading producer of audio components for the growing classic vehicle market. The company’s products are designed to fit seamlessly into a classic car application, offering modern technology and superior sound quality while staying true to the classic car’s original design.
“Winning Exporter of the Year for our state and region is very important to our company,” said Steve Harrington, owner of Retro Manufacturing, LLC. “These awards show how well our team works together as a unit.”
Since relocating to Nevada from California, Retro Manufacturing has worked exclusively with Bank of Nevada to establish its manufacturing operations in the state and pursue additional warehouse capability while benefiting from Nevada’s pro-business climate.
“We are thrilled to see Retro Manufacturing receive this important state and regional recognition due to their hard work and dedication over the past six years,” said Michael Cunningham, Senior Managing Director, Bank of Nevada. “Bank of Nevada is honored to work alongside Retro Manufacturing, along with many other businesses in Southern Nevada that are achieving their business goals and creating success in today’s marketplace.”
Bank of Nevada’s business expertise, combined with a wide range of financial products and local market knowledge, helped provide Retro Manufacturing with the resources to increase its business inventory before a planned 25 percent tariff increase.
“To deal with this, we decided the best strategy was to produce and import as much inventory as possible before the taxes went into effect,” said Harrington. “By having a close relationship with Bank of Nevada, we knew we could take this strategy even further. We met with Michael Cunningham and Meg Cruz to negotiate a larger credit line and an inventory loan, which allowed us to push our manufacturers to capacity and maximize our inventory. Having additional inventory gave us time to figure out how to deal with these tariffs more effectively and saved us over half a million dollars. Because Bank of Nevada understood our business and needs on an intimate level, we were able to move quickly and meet the fast-approaching deadlines we were facing.”
The Exporter of the Year award winner is selected by a panel of judges based on many factors, including a company’s increased sales, profits, and growth due to exporting activities. Additional considerations include overseas marketing strategies, effective solutions to export-related issues, and effective use of Federal or State government trade promotions or financing.
Retro Manufacturing has received 16 global media awards and, most recently, was awarded the Best New Product award at the 2019 ARMO awards.
About Bank of Nevada
Bank of Nevada, a division of Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, helps business clients realize their ambitions. Founded in 1994, Bank of Nevada offers a full spectrum of loan, deposit and treasury management capabilities, plus superior service. With 10 offices in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Mesquite, along with Western Alliance Bank’s powerful array of specialized financial services, the banking division is a valued resource for Southern Nevada’s business, real estate, professional, municipal and nonprofit communities. In a first among Nevada financial institutions, Bank of Nevada in 2018 earned the Community Commitment Award for Financial Education from the American Bankers Association Foundation for its work with Title I schools through the Green Our Planet organization. Western Alliance Bank is the primary subsidiary of Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorporation. One of the country’s top-performing banking companies, Western Alliance has ranked in the top 10 on the Forbes “Best Banks in America” list for five consecutive years, 2016-2020, and was named #1 best-performing of the 50 largest public U.S. banks for 2019 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. For more information, visit bankofnevada.com.