Who We Are
Bridgeforth Capital Partners is a provider of financial advisory and private capital to mid-sized family and privately owned agribusiness.
Why We Were Started
Purpose
To give Ag Producers better access to long-term, patient, and cost-effective capital.
Challenge
Traditional lenders face growing regulatory, institutional, and resource constraints.
Risk Factors
Consolidation, commodity price volatility, government oversight, and water insecurity have made ag lending riskier and more limited.
Market Gap
As agriculture becomes more capital-intensive and faces consolidation and generational land transfers, the need for capital is rising—while capital providers are decreasing.
The Opportunity in Agricultural Private Credit & Equity
U.S. Agriculture is becoming more capital‑intensive amid consolidation, generational transitions, and regulatory costs.
Bridgeforth Capital Partners fills this gap by deploying flexible debt and equity capital underwritten with operator‑level insight.
Traditional lenders are restricted by regulation, institutional constraints, and lack of operator‑level diligence.
Creating a structural capital gap for mid‑sized, family‑owned agribusinesses.
Our Founders
Jay Joy
jay@bridgeforthllp.com
- Jay has deep financial expertise from a ten-year career with Farm Credit Administration, Rabobank, CoBank, and Bank of the West. Sector expertise is dairy, cattle feedyards, row crop farming, ag retail and commercial grain companies.
- Operational leadership experience was gained advising family-owned agribusiness as General Manager of a 2nd generation family owned 7,500 cow dairy and Chief Financial Officer of a 1st generation family-owned 14,000 acre row crop and alfalfa farm.
- Jay advises on finance, growth and succession as a board member of three family-owned farms and one private-equity owned dairy.
Jack Smith
jack@bridgeforthllp.com
- Career banker with extensive experience structuring capital to complex businesses through roles in relationship, credit and executive management.
- Career capstone is 25 years with Wells Fargo’s Commercial Banking Group focusing on middle-market, vertically integrated agribusiness clients, first as relationship manager followed by credit management responsibility for a $1.5 Billion loan portfolio.
- Early career with Bank of America and Farm Credit (Bakersfield PCA and Federal Land Bank) provided extensive workout and managed asset experience. Late career as Chief Credit Officer of Bakersfield, California based Valley Republic Bank was instrumental in achieving significant growth in bank assets from $275 Million to $1.5 Billion.
Our Underwriting is: Designed to Protect
Capital Across Commodity Cycles
Comprehensive
Credit and
Investment
Policies.
Real estate and personal property collateral evaluations conducted on every loan.
Assessment of
management and due
diligence of internal
accounting, business model
and operations.
Ongoing site
visitations of
business locations.
Cash flow and
repayment risk
analysis customized
by industry and
commodity.
Loan performance
covenants used to
determine and
manage repayment
and collateral risk.
Loan reporting covenants designed to report and monitor borrower operating and financial performance.
Transaction Criteria
Check Size: $2-50 million
Structure: Sr. Debt, Mezzanine or Minority Equity
Tenor: 1 to 7 years - Operating or Term
User Profile: Family or privately held agribusinesses seeking growth, transition, or recapitalization
Sector Focus
Animal Protein
Dairy, Beef, Poultry, Pork
Animal Protein
Dairy, Beef, Poultry, Pork
Animal Protein
Dairy, Beef, Poultry, Pork
Animal Protein
Dairy, Beef, Poultry, Pork
Animal Protein
Dairy, Beef, Poultry, Pork
Animal Protein
Dairy, Beef, Poultry, Pork
