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Qué
opinan nuestros clientes
Vivienda
"Sin la ayuda de organizaciones como la suya, el laberinto del sistema sería seguramente más
difícil de manejar.
Fundación Comunitaria Old Pueblo
Préstamos Empresariales
"Estoy muy contento porque una persona, una organización creyó en mí . . ."
Victor Valdez -Condado Santa Cruz
"Aunque trabajé
para otras empresas anteriormente, siempre lo hice vendiendo. Comenzé vendiendo aparatos
electrónicos desde mi hogar y pronto pude registrar mi propio negocio. Entonces necesité de
mi propio edificio. Encontré una pequeña tienda en una esquina de Douglas en 1997, y fuí a ver
a los bancos. Podrán imaginarse su reacción. No me quisieron prestar nada. Dijeron que era yo
muy joven, y eso me desilusionó totalmente. Pensé que nunca podría tener mi propio negocio. Me
fuí haciendo de dinero poco a poco, pero mi gran oportunidad vino cuando supe de los Préstamos para
Pequeñas Empresas de PPEP, a través de su Corporación para el Desarrollo de la Microempresa y la
Vivienda. Ese préstamo realmente marcó la diferencia para mi negocio. Pudimos abrir un local mucho
más grande en 1999 para servir mejor a nuestros clientes. También pudimos emplear a 10 personas." - Beyond Technology
Lorenzo McGrew - Condado Cochise
"Es un gran programa que en realidad ayuda a
las personas con las necesidades financieras de su negocio."
Maria Santoyo - Condado Yuma
"Desde 1997 ustedes
hay ayudado a que mi negocio crezca, al haberme otorgado siete préstamos. Y mi negocio, Heartsongs,
ha continuado creciendo."
Martha Arndt - Condado Pima
Small
Business : Tiny Loans, big results
Arizona
small-business people thrive after getting special loans.
Victor
Valdez shows off his E-Z Bag Snap Ring, which he invented
in his shed to make it easier to rake leaves. After receiving
a $3,000 loan from PPEP Microbusiness and Housing Development
Corp. in 2000, Valdez's factory in Hermosillo has 40,000 units
ready for shipment.
Gary Gaynor/Tucson Citizen
OSCAR
ABEYTA
Citizen Business Writer
Feb. 11, 2002
Drive on to extend credit to little border businesses.
Victor
Valdez of Nogales finally got tired of holding a garbage bag
open while raking leaves into it.
So
he went to a hardware store, bought channeled aluminum strips
and took them back to his garage. There, he cut and welded
the strips into two interlocking frames. Using them, he could
stretch the opening of the garbage bag over one frame and
lock it in place with the other.
Now,
with one hand he could hold the bag, its mouth held open by
the frames, and rake leaves with the other.
Great
idea, huh?
His
neighbors and family thought so.
Every
time they'd see him effortlessly gathering leaves in his yard
while they struggled, they'd plead with Valdez to make them
one of his frames.
So
in his 10-square-foot shed, he would cut and weld the aluminum
strips into frames, and thus started a little business.
In
1996, the federal government thought his idea was pretty great,
too, and awarded him a patent.
But
Valdez needed that extra bit of help to make the leap into
mass production.
Enter
PPEP Microbusiness and Housing Development Corp., a Tucson-based
nonprofit organization that administers loans for microenterprises
such as Valdez's. In 2000 it granted him a $3,000 low interest
loan that he used to make plastic prototypes of his frames.
Through
the loan and the heat-molded prototypes, he secured $250,000
in private funding to develop his product. Two years later,
he has 40,000 injection-molded units made in Hermosillo, Son.,
ready to ship to the United States, overseas and to other
areas of Mexico.
"I'm
very happy because one person, one organization believed in
me," Valdez said.
Valdez
took out another $15,000 loan to develop packaging and has
done market tests and focus groups to see if consumers like
his E-Z Bag Snap Ring. He said all agreed it's a great idea.
According
to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 53 percent of businesses
in this country have five employees or fewer. It's these businesses
and entrepreneurs, particularly in rural areas, that PPEP
Microbusiness tries to help through its loans.
Microenterprise
loans can range from $500 to $25,000 and are intended to help
foster the entrepreneurial spirit in people such as Valdez.
People with good ideas who lack access to traditional business
loans or credit can apply for microenterprise loans, which
can be used for anything from operating capital to equipment
purchases. The loans generally have lower interest rates than
bank loans and have repayment terms of six years or fewer.
When
Leticia Aragon moved to the Arizona border community of San
Luis from Mexico in 1987, she had dreams of making a better
life for her children. But getting steady employment with
good pay was harder than she expected.
"Life
didn't turn out as easy as we'd hoped," she said. So
she applied for a microenterprise loan from PPEP to start
a side business to bring in extra money.
With
$300, she drove to Los Angeles to buy clothing that she brought
back and sold to co-workers and friends in her living room.
Gradually, her customer base grew, and she leased a small
store in San Luis in 1997. When that building closed, she
leased a 1,000-square-foot store front next to the border
crossing.
When
she first moved in, she didn't have nearly enough merchandise
to fill it. But her business has grown to where she's nearly
outgrown that store, she said.
Businesses
that repay initial loans can qualify for lines of credit of
up to $25,000.
Over
the years, Danny Renteria estimated, he's borrowed more than
$100,000 from PPEP Microbusiness to boost his auto repair
business. From the first $1,000 loan he got to buy an air
compressor to the loans he's taken to expand the building
he bought in 1994, Danny's Service Center has grown, into
the largest repair shop in Nogales.
PPEP
Microbusiness has more than $5 million in loans and credit
invested in Arizona.
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