BUSINESS FINANCE PROGRAM

The Business Finance Program provides flexible financing to new or existing businesses in the seven counties of northeastern Minnesota, as well as Superior/Douglas County, Wisconsin, with the goal of helping retain or create high-quality jobs and support economic vitality.

Andy Goldfine and Kim Brody cut costs and came to the Northland Foundation for a loan to weather the economic downturn and retain the employees they value so highly.

Aerostich, Duluth

Andy Goldfine and Kim Brody cut costs and came to the Northland Foundation for a loan to weather the economic downturn and retain the employees they value so highly.
Aerostich, Duluth

At Aero Design & Manufacturing, passion rules – passion for motorcycling, passion for innovation, and passion for high-tech protective gear aimed at the commuter and touring rider. Perhaps most importantly, the Duluth-based company is passionate about serving its global customer base from right here in northeastern Minnesota.

Andy Goldfine launched the Aerostich brand 26 years ago by designing a range of products that help protect riders from injury, and which make riding more comfortable. Along with Kim Brody and the rest of the management and associate team, Aerostich has become a world renowned niche business catering to motorcyclists who are more interested in functional performance than in looking tough.

Products, from motorcycle suits to boots to saddlebags, are sold direct only -- by internet and catalog -- and customers are fiercely loyal. One Norwegian couple flew into Chicago, drove to Duluth to be custom fitted for motorcycle suits, then headed straight home to Norway.

Despite its strong foothold in the market, the company felt the effects of the economic crunch. They’ve streamlined operations wherever possible – anything to avoid laying off employees, whose skill and dedication are not easily replaced.

A recent Northland Foundation loan helped to ease the pinch, however, and Aerostich now projects a profitable and, as one might expect, passionate future.