Colorado Enterprise Fund

Colorado Enterprise Fund Newsletter

February, 2005

 

Greetings!

Your friendly small business newsletter is back with updates for our friends and supporters.

This Month We Feature.....

·  CEF Success Story - Amore Fiore

·  Key Facts - SBA Microloan Program

·  Wise Business Quotations



CEF Success Story - Amore Fiore

Business is blooming at Amore Fiore in the new Stapleton Town Center. At the site of Denver's old airport, CEF was able to help fund part of an exciting, new commercial development. Michelle Stefanon, pictured to the left with an employee, opened the doors of her floral and gift shop a year ago with the help of a CEF loan. The funds were used to purchase equipment, computer hardware, software, and inventory. As a new business owner, Michelle has learned through experience how to manage all the daily operations of a floral shop. Managing the cash flow of accounts receivable & payable, marketing, and the intricacies of good customer service are all skills she has sharpened while on the job.

Amore Fiori is managed by Michelle and her husband Casey. Michelle originally worked for the Adams Mark Hotel where she designed large flower displays. Casey has extensive marketing and consulting experience and also assists Michelle with the finances. This store is just one example of how new Mom & Pop businesses can compete and thrive in today's always evolving business environment.



Key Facts - SBA Microloan Program

CEF's misson is to encourage small business ownership and economic development. While the size of some loans in recent years have grown to $150,000+, CEF remains committed to providing microloans that make a big difference to small business.

Did you know........

  • $50,000 or less is the size of a microloan
  • 9 employees or less comprise a microbusiness
  • 2,400 SBA microloans were made in 2003
  • $26 million is the total of those loans
  • $10,833 is the average loan amount
  • 88% of businesses in Colorado are microbusinesses
  • 19% of Colorado employment is in microbusinesss



Wise Business Quotations

At CEF, an important part of our job is to encourage to small business owners, whom we always refer to as "our borrowers". The wise words below can do just that - and also provide a healthy dose of pragmatism!

You can buy a person's hands but you can't buy his heart. His heart is where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is. - Stephen Covey

If you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail. - Tarique Siddique

I am grateful for all my problems. I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come. - J.C. Penney

To control your cow, give it a bigger pasture. - Suzuki Roshi, Zen Master

He profits most who serves best. - Arthur F. Sheldon

My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it. - Abraham Lincoln

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill

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Colorado Enterprise Fund | 1888 Sherman Street, Suite 530 | Denver | CO | 80203