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Tyngsboro Sports Center Named Family Owned Business of the Year
CARES Act relief programs and SBA 504 loans key instruments for sustaining and supporting expansion of destination sports facility
MASSACHUSETTS DISTRICT
Release Date: April 22, 2024
Contact: norman.eng@sba.gov, 617-565-8510
Release Number: 24-5
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BOSTON – The Small Business Administration (SBA) has named Tyngsboro Sports Center the 2024 Jeffrey Butland Family Owned Business of the Year for Massachusetts.
Tyngsboro Sports Center is a recreational facility offering sports programs, including classes, camps, clinics and leagues. Started by Jeanne and Darryl Wickens in 2005, the family owned business is capable of hosting both indoor and outdoor events for soccer, baseball, football, lacrosse, volleyball, and pickleball year-round.
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“Congratulations to the Wickens family for successfully navigating through the crisis and coming back even stronger to fulfil their dreams,” said District Director Robert Nelson. “Utilizing the SBA 504 loan to continue expanding facilities will create even more jobs while growing the sporting community in the region – tremendous economic impact.”
SCORE counseling was instrumental in guiding the Wickens family through the funding process and helping them understand different programs available to start the business. In 2004, Wickens developed a business plan for the Tyngsboro Sports Center and utilized the SBA 504 loan program to fund their original location.
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In 2017, the Wickens family purchased a second location with a larger tract of land with room for expansion and built a 75,000 sq. ft. indoor facility and outdoor field with assistance from BDC New England. Plans were to lease or sell the original facility and add onto the newer location, but the pandemic put a hold on plans.
“In growing our business, the two main focus points are how do we attract and retain customers and how do we perform better against our competition,” said Chief Sports Officer Darryl Wickens. “We were not planning that our biggest threat was a pandemic that stopped everything in its tracks – it was full air bag deployment!”
During the pandemic, as businesses were required to stay closed and in compliance with social distancing guidance, the Tyngsboro Sports Center couldn’t produce revenue. The business was able to stay afloat thanks to the CARES Act, as the SBA through the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Debt Relief Program delivered vital funds that kept debts paid and staff employed with the business.
Today, the Wickens family are in the process of following through with plans to expand again and are in the financing process to double the size of their facilities and add another 75,000 sq. ft. of space to the new location again support by BDC New England.
Wickens was nominated by Michael Topalian, Managing Director Sales and Marketing, BDC Capital/CDC New England.
Wickens will be honored at the annual National Small Business Week Massachusetts Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 10th, 2024, at the Doubletree Andover.
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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start and grow their businesses. It delivers services to people through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
