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March 2009
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In
This Issue
CEF Filling Lending Gap
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Borrower
Success Story
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Sweet Beginnings, LLC
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Online
Application
CEF
is actively lending and you can apply online!
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CEF Filling Lending Gap
Colorado Enterprise Fund is actively filling the
lending gap. In the month of February, we closed 8
loans totaling more than $394,000. We are experiencing
a steady flow of applications monthly and our pipeline has grown to
over 40 loans currently being underwritten.
Lewis Hagler, CEF Director of Lending, reports that some banks have
been capping or withdrawing lines of credit in this environment causing
businesses to approach CEF to replace this funding. This funding
is critical to small businesses because it is often providing the
capital which allows growth and the funding of receivables,
seasonal cycles, etc. In addition, some banks have also tightened
credit/cash flow/collateral requirements for small businesses due to
the economic climate. CEF is receiving requests for
funding based on these issues and has approved a number of
loans recently to help businesses affected by
these situations.
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 Sweet
Beginnings, LLC
Often our best ideas come from our own life experiences.
Michelle Parks is a great example of how a life-changing event
can ignite a terrific passion. When she had her
first baby she struggled during her pregnancy, labor and
delivery that resulted in an emergency C-section which cascaded into
postpartum depression and many breastfeeding concerns. She
was continually sent back to the hospital to find support. This
was the last place she wanted to be especially with a newborn in
tow. Michelle was looking for a place where she could
purchase the items she needed as a nursing mom and a wellness center
that taught families other options than what the hospitals provide when
it comes to their birth plan.
Since she couldn't find it anywhere else, she decided to start her
own. Sweet Beginnings is just such a place with a retail
boutique and wellness center for maturnity and nursing
families. The wellness center specializes in a variety of
childbirth educational options, breastfeeding support provided by
highly skilled lacation consultants, postpartum support and a therapist
on staff.
The loan officer from Colorado Enterprise Fund who helped Michelle is
Alan Ramirez. When first looking at her application, Alan
recognized, "Michelle has found a need in her community and she is
providing a great service." Colorado Enterprise Fund helped
Sweet Beginnings with our financial assistance and business
support. "What I love about CEF is that they not only help
financially but they encourage business owners with their support and
make sure you are taking advantage of their expertise in certain areas
of business. They check in on you and stop by to actually see
what you have created," said Michelle.
Michelle has created numerous mommy support groups and mommy and
baby classes all designed to support and encourage the "it takes a
village" approach to raising a child. The boutique
specializes in all BPA-free, phalate and paraben free products such as
herbal remedies, nursing bottle and breastfeeding supplies. They
carry a variety of maternity and nursing apparel, nursing bras,
pillows, breastfeeding pumps, as well as a hospital grade pump rental
station. Sweet Beginnings also sells cloth diapers which are
making a huge comeback and families are starting to understand both the
ecological and economical resasons for choosing them, especially during
the recession. You can view and interview that Michelle gave
to CBS News on this subject at the following link, http://cbs4denver.com/consumer/Cloth.Diapers.savings.2.914413.html
Michelle still gets excited when she realizes that this all
came about because she recognized the need for a place
like Sweet Beginnings and brought it to fruition for herself and
her community. "Finally, there is a place filled with
support and encouragement for the new mom."
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Colorado Enterprise Fund is
actively lending and our new online application makes it faster and
easier than ever to get a loan! Take a look at our
website and see for yourself our new steamlined process. Go
to www.coloradoenterprisefund.org
and click on "Loan Application" on the left side of the
homepage.
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Colorado Enterprise Fund
1888
Sherman Street, Suite 530
Denver,
CO 80203
Phone:
303-860-0242
Fax:
303-860-0409
Please
visit our website at www.coloradoenterprisefund.org.
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Colorado Enterprise Fund is a nonprofit community development
business loan fund. Our purpose is to foster economic opportunity
and create jobs through business ownership and expansion. CEF has
provided over 760 loans totaling over $14 million to Colorado
businesses that are not able to obtain adequate bank financing.
We support our borrowers with business counseling and technical
assistance to ensure loan repayment and business success.
CEF has been serving Colorado small businesses since 1976.
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