Tyler Merritt understands the power of community, belonging and purpose. It’s what drew him toward the military as a high school senior, not long after the Sept. 11 attacks. This service eventually led him to become an Apache helicopter pilot in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, one of the most heavily deployed military units.

Thirteen years ago, Merritt cofounded Nine Line Apparel, named for the nine-line distress call medevacs use for calling in a combat injury. Since the very beginning, the company has donated a portion of its proceeds to a foundation it set up to serve veterans, as well as military and first responder charities.

Nine Line Apparel began in Merritt’s garage in Savannah, Georgia. It has grown from its flagship storefront along the Savannah Riverwalk to a 50,000-square-foot factory on the outskirts of town and a total of eight stores.

Merritt said the company is ready to expand to at least five more locations. It’s decided, in keeping with its mission of community and shared purpose, to step away from the traditional route of seeking a loan from a corporate bank, instead offering its customers a chance to “buy in” and be front-line investors in the company’s future.

Merritt said Nine Line’s first crowdfunding campaign goal is to raise $2.5 million, not just to grow its brick-and-mortar locations but also to expand its Savannah production locations that employ 300 people, many of whom are military veterans.

Merritt told the Washington Examiner the company’s been growing rapidly for the past 10 years. While he has taken on his share of bank notes and entertained the opportunity of taking on private equity, he believed that giving the Nine Line community the ability to have a stake in the company was the way to go.

JT Taylor, one of the original cofounders of Black Rifle Coffee Company, has stepped up as a friend and partner with Merritt. Its veteran-fueled coffee and apparel are available at all the storefronts, baristas and all, as a major investor in the capital drive. Taylor told the Examiner that his support “was an answer to a call for a company that is meeting the demand for American job growth and for a company with purpose.”

To date, nearly 2,000 people have registered to invest, and the investment opportunity closes at the end of September.

“For our customers who believe in our mission, it is an exciting time for them to have a stake in that mission and our purpose of doing the right things for their fellow man and not expect anything in return,” Merritt said.

“That’s been our mantra. If we can provide aid and support to organizations, individuals in need that are good humans, we can truly believe that those things come back tenfold, and that seems to hold true in this case,” he said of the countless first responders, military members, veterans and the disaster relief efforts the company has supported since 2012.

Merritt said that of all the apparel he has made over the years, the one shirt he gets the most compliments on was one of the first and one of the simplest.

“It simply says, ‘I’m feeling great again,'” Merritt said. “That’s who we are and who is part of our community, helping people feel great again. And to have our customers invested in something that evokes that is really the heart of who we are.”