SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The mountain of student loan debt thatoptometrists often face fresh out of school may not be sointimidating thanks to a program co-sponsored by Vision One CreditUnion. The Vision One Loan program is an alliance between the $27million credit union and VSP here, an eye care benefit planprovider with more than 40 million members. Launched in 2003, theloan program is aimed at recent optometry graduates who want toacquire a practice or a partnership in an existing practice. Up to100% financing is available with variable or fixed rates and termsup to 10 years. VSP has committed $5 million to the plan but willnot benefit financially from the loan program, as all repaymentswill be returned to the fund to help provide loans to otherdoctors, according to the company. So far, the program has loaned$7 million to roughly 30 optometrists in California and 12 otherstates including Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Indiana, Washington andTexas. The program is scheduled to expand nationwide in three tofive years. “Our SEGs are optometrists so it just made sense to gettogether with VSP to make this available,” said Robert Schultz,president/CEO of Vision One. Indeed, Vision One CU serves a uniqueniche industry: optometrists and ophthalmologists licensed inCalifornia; members of the Colorado and Ohio OptometricAssociations and their staff; Vision Service Plan employees;employees of vision care related companies; and family members ofVision One CU employees. It currently serves more than 2,600members. One of the goals of the Vision One Loan program is tosimplify and accelerate entry into private practice ownership byallowing first time purchasers the ability to buy a practice eventhough they have minimal to no personal assets. The loans, whichare available to first-time private practice purchasers, can beused towards a down payment or a partnership acquisition. As acondition, applicants must join the credit union. Schultz saidother benefits of the program include the reduction of businessrisk for junior partners because senior partners can serve asmentors. It also creates an option for senior partners to graduallytransition into retirement while retaining control of the practiceby selling a minority interest now and the remaining interest at afuture date. “We're seeing a lot more that are buying theirpractices” compared to buying into a partnership, Schultz said.“The economies of scale of a large practice make more sense. Therewas a need to get people into that ownership that previously wasn'tthere.” Schultz said the credit union uses an SBA loan to guaranteeits portion but setting up such a program that serves a specialgroup may not be for every credit union. “SBA loans are certainlysomething credit unions can replicate. It might be harder for acommunity-based credit union to do,” he said. The loan process alsoserves as a sort of introductory course for new professionals byhelping them understand cash flows and orienting cash flowrequirements to support the practice acquisition debt and livingexpenses. Schultz said it also demystifies the acquisition processand “offers a friendly, supportive environment in which to enterprivate practice ownership.” Vision One Credit Union's well-knownpresence within the optometry field has helped the program gainmomentum, said Bruce Medine, VSP board chairman and an optometristbased in San Francisco. Since its founding in 1951, the creditunion has invested more than $250 million in optometry inCalifornia. [email protected]