It turns out that growing mushrooms can be good business.

With a business model that is a unique combination of both growing mushrooms and sourcing the best mushrooms from growers around the country, the RI Mushroom Company has been making a name for itself since 2013. In just four years’ time Mike Hallock, CEO, and Bob DiPietro, “the financial guy,” are fulfilling their goal of being the best in the industry and providing the highest quality products to restaurants, specialty markets, and institutions in the Ocean State and beyond.

Mike came to the RISBDC as the company was looking to expand operations to meet growing demand. While he attributes one pillar of the small business’s success to RI’s food culture, with a strong community interest in eating local food and supporting local businesses, he admits that financing has been one of the biggest challenges. Indoor agriculture continues to have high infrastructure costs for expansion.

Business counselor Josh Daly worked with Mike to put together a financial model and other documents for lenders and investors, to create a compelling pitch package, and also helped him navigate the funding landscape. RIMC secured a loan from the Business Development Company of RI, backed by CommerceRI’s new Small Business Assistance Program. The financing has enabled the company to expand into a new, 10,000-sq.ft. West Kingston facility housing three grow rooms, a packaging room, and an office. RIMC now employs roughly 25 staff and generates over $1 million in sales.

“Working with the RISBDC has been a rewarding experience. Josh has continually showed a genuine interest in our success and followed through with excellent advice. I wish we had found them sooner!” –Mike Hallock

Mike, Bob, and the team at RIMC are well-positioned to continue their impressive growth as a leader in Rhode Island’s indoor agriculture industry and the go-to guys bringing the best  and largest variety of mushrooms to their customers. Their goal is to increase RI production in the near future as they use their new facility and access to capital to take over growing mushrooms they currently source elsewhere, and expand into growing mushrooms for pharmaceutical uses in collaboration with universities and science institutions. Congratulations on your success, RIMC. We can’t wait to watch you keep growing!