USDA helps out Maine wreath seller

2/21/2012

David Whitney, owner of Whitneyville, Maine-based Whitney Wreath, began selling the popular Christmas decoration out of his pickup truck in 1984, the Bangor Daily News reports.

Since then, his business has become the nation's largest producer of fresh Christmas holiday wreaths and home decorations, providing balsam products to big-name companies such as L.L. Bean for its store displays.

Whitney was able to expand his business in 2010 thanks to assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its Rural Development Business and Industry division guaranteed Whitney a 20-year USDA loan for $3.3 million, which he used to construct his current 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

With his larger complex, Whitney hopes to streamline his business from nine locations to five, creating a more central location for his 455 employees to construct the wreaths.

"I've taken a lot of risk, but it's paying off," Whitney told the news source.

In addition to Christmas wreaths for a variety of special occasions (such as breast cancer awareness), Whitney also sells centerpieces and accessories such as wreath hangers and sleigh bell spray, according to the company's website.