A health care fund with a production office in Chattanooga was named 2010 Small Business Investment Company of the Year.
Contemporary Healthcare Fund I LP was cited by the U.S. Small Business Administration during National Small Business Week recently, said Chattanoogan Byron DeFoor, a co-founder of Contemporary Healthcare Capital.
CHC, with operations in Shrewsbury, N.J., is a health care finance company specializing in mezzanine, equity and senior debt, according to Mr. DeFoor.
CHC manages a handful of health care funds, he said. Collectively, the company has about $435 million under management, Mr. DeFoor said. He said the company has raised more than $100 million of equity over the past 10 years.
Mr. De-Foor, a co-founder of the business with partners Chuck Jabaley and John O'Brien, credited the company's success to a "strong relationship" with local investors.
He said the senior population is growing 31/2 times faster than the general population. With 78 million baby boomers turning 68, "we feel we have chosen the right industry in which to grow."
Mr. O'Brien said there are 320 small-business investment companies nationally.
"We are honored to receive this prestigious award," he said. "For well over a decade, we have provided financing to the small and midsized health care operators which represent the core of the nation's health care industry."
Mr. Jabaley said the company has had "an extraordinary year."
He said the company is winding up its initial fund after 10 years and will have provided its investors with an annual return of about 17 percent.
Mr. Jabaley said that in its 10-year history, the fund has made more than $130 million in loans and equity investments in 30 states.
Mr. DeFoor said the recipients were invited to the White House for a reception. They also met with U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn.