In collaboration with Orrstown Bank, EDC Finance helped secure financing for the Prickett’s purchase and renovation of The Red Caboose. 

Tyler Prickett remembers staying at the Red Caboose Motel as a boy, when his family would travel from Bucks County to visit Amish Country.

Those seven or eight trips to the Paradise Township motel were great times for him.

Now, decades later, Prickett and his family intend to give that positive feeling to a new generation of visitors to the iconic property.

They’ve bought the Red Caboose Motel, including the 9.3-acre site and business, for $1.7 million from Larry DeMarco.

“There’s something special about the Red Caboose. It’s so unique. It’s something we could put our heart and soul into, to create memories for families,” said Prickett.

Prickett, 31, of Mount Joy, comes to the hospitality industry in a roundabout way.

He was working at WGAL as an account executive when he decided to go into business for himself. While scanning a list of businesses for sale, he spotted the Red Caboose.

“It jumped off the page for me,” said Prickett.

Prickett said he wasn’t aiming to get into the hospitality field. He was just looking for a venture he could be passionate about. The Red Caboose fulfilled that criterion.

So after 10 1/2 years at WGAL, Prickett got himself a new career, with he and his family acquiring the business Feb. 1.

Prickett is the Red Caboose’s general manager. His wife Katherine is its marketing manager. Prickett’s mother Debra and father Todd, who’s active in a family-owned antique furniture store, also are partners in the venture.

Helping to make the transaction possible was EDC Finance, a Lancaster-based nonprofit that helps secure state and federal funds for businesses.

For the Pricketts, EDC Finance arranged a U.S. Small Business Administration loan of $577,000 through the SBA’s 504 program. EDC Finance was brought into the transaction by the Pricketts’ commercial lender, Orrstown Bank.

Randy Johnston, an EDC Finance loan officer, said EDC Finance was impressed by the complementary business skills of the father and son. “We think they make a good team,” he said.

EDC Finance also took note of their vision “for providing a quality experience” at the property, said Johnston.

Read the full article by Dan Marschka here.