MMELO
MMELO is a Columbus-based, woman and minority owned small business dedicated to all natural, artisanal sweet treats and pastries. Michelle Allen was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and was a business owner in Spain before moving back to her hometown. Back in Columbus, Michelle connected with ECDI and The Food Fort – an incubator for food industry start-ups and businesses that features a full commercial kitchen, as well as offering licensing and certification classes for the food industry. With the goal of getting the capital needed to start a pop-up shop to sell her organic, artisanal confections, Michelle began her relationship with ECDI. She received an initial $25,000 from ECDI to open a holiday retail pop-up shop at Easton Towne Center in 2015. Her pop-up shop, MMELO, was located between the Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors stores, and was a success. Allen noted that MMELO would not have accelerated…
MedCode Professional Career Academy
Jasmine Hall’s first job in her teens was in medical collections, a role where she found a natural talent for understanding the terminology and explaining bills to patients. As a
young mother, Jasmine was looking for a higher paying career that would also allow her to spend more time with her daughter. After seeing a commercial for medical coding school, she decided to put her talents to use and earn her Certified Professional Coder (CPC) certification.
Mariama’s Beauty Supply Story
In January 2012, when Mariama Jallow arrived in the United States from her home country Gambia, she had ambitions to be a part of the growing immigrant business‐owner community in Portland, Maine. After overcoming many hurdles, including advocating for and seeing the shift in a state law, developing a business plan, and opening a type of business that was new to the state of Maine, she now owns and operates Mariama’s Beauty Supply store on Forest Avenue in Portland.
Dellwood Pharmacy
Dellwood Pharmacy is located in north St. Louis County in an area that is considered a “pharmacy desert,” where in recent years two major chain pharmacies have closed. Rebecca Mawuenega first came to Justine PETERSEN to access an SBA Community Advantage loan to acquire the community pharmacy that had been in business for 13 years. Subsequently, COVID-19 led to a 40% plummeting in sales revenue. Rebecca reached out to Justine PETERSEN for a PPP loan that allowed her to retain her 4 person staff. “It was crucial for my business to receive a PPP loan in a timely fashion.” As a critical health care access point for an underserved community, the pharmacy has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal and in local St. Louis news for its role in the community providing critical COVID vaccines. “The unvaccinated people are the ones suffering right now and we must reach them now,” said…
Revive Outreach
Revive Outreach Inc. helps individuals and families as they seek to improve their quality of life through the provision of safe, secure and affordable housing and economics security. This loan assisted Revive Outreach Inc, in their commitment to provide affordable housing in underserved communities during the pandemic in 2020. Dayonne is a returning client that has another business, Revive Janitorial and she came back to Justine PETERSEN in February of 2020 and received a loan for $10,500. The Microloan was paid back in full in July of 2020. Visit Revive Outreach Website
Ms. Niecy’s Learning Center
As one of the premier daycare facilities in Southwest Atlanta, Ms. Niecy’s is more than a daycare center – it is an award-winning childcare facility. The Commercial Entrepreneur of the Year Award was presented to owners John and JuanisaKimbrough in 2018 by ACE. They are a student-focused affordable preschool and learning center that accepts infants, toddlers, preschool and after-school children. The center was created when Mr. and Mrs Kimbrough searched across the metropolitan Atlanta area for a quality childcare center for their twin boys who have Cerebral Palsy, and came up short. They consistently encountered sub-par facilities that were unsuitable for their children. They would either find a good center with unqualified and unfriendly staff or a poorly ran center. From the sheer frustration of not finding a high quality center with both friendly and qualified staff, the vision for Ms. Niecy’s Home Away from Home Learning Center was created.…
Jolie Day Spa
Jolie Day Spa and Salon is a full-service spa located in downtown Dahlonega, Georgia. This small business loan was to provide permanent working capital for Nicole Wimpy to restart business operations post Covid-19. Nicole was able to cut expenses, start a spa membership program and actually increase revenues over the previous year by the end of 2020. Nicole Wimpy has been a client with ACE for over 5 years. She’s a member of the ACE Women’s High Performing Group and receives one-on-one business advisory services to strengthen her business and meet her growth goals. This loan was her fourth one from ACE for her various small businesses. She has previously been awarded ACE’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She started her business with a $50,000 loan from ACE, which she since has paid back, and she used a Small Business Assistance (SBA) loan to expand her spa’s health, wellness, and beauty…
My Sister’s Keeper Daycare & Preschool
Christina Carmichael had visions of expanding her daycare and preschool on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Western Montana. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, those plans kicked into high gear, as Christina started taking more kids and needed to expand the facility to meet childcare licensing requirements. As the pandemic’s impacts grew, so did her clients’ needs. MoFi provided Christina with an $11,277 SBA Microloan in August 2020, enabling her to move forward with the expansion, adding a second classroom, bathroom, new parking area and privacy fence to allow children to play safely in the front yard.
Calf Pen Products
Council, Idaho (population: 865) is home to Robyn Warner – the owner Calf Pen Products. Robyn was able to fulfill a longtime dream of growing her home-based bakery and canning operation into a viable, main street business. It’s a big leap for any entrepreneur, but especially for Robyn, a mom of four who holds two part-time jobs and also runs the family’s cattle ranch with her husband. But Robyn knew she had a high-quality product that was poised for growth, if only she could find the capital to make it happen. Now, through a $10,499 SBA Microloan the business received in January 2020, Calf Pen Products is not only providing fresh-made breads, baked goods, jams and canned items to local customers, but Robyn has a commercial-grade kitchen that allows her to supply goods to restaurants and grocery stores in surrounding rural towns, which was vital once the COVID-19 pandemic hit.…