{"id":9868,"date":"2018-07-08T18:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T00:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/?p=9868"},"modified":"2018-09-02T14:25:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T20:25:42","slug":"sba-504-loan-baked-in-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/articles\/obtaining-a-loan\/sba-504-loan-baked-in-success\/","title":{"rendered":"SBA 504 Loan has Bakery-Cafe Baked in Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Damon Scott<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"If you whisk together hard work and passion and then throw in an effective loan program, your chances for small business success will likely be high. Those ingredients came together in Ruidoso, where Steven and Marie Gomez operate the Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe.<\/p>\n

Cornerstone serves up a wide variety of bakery items \u2014 cookies, muffins, pies, cakes, and New Mexico traditional goods such as biscochitos \u2014 along with catering that supplements the full breakfast and lunch menu. The Gomezes were long-time loyal customers of the cafe before buying the business in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a realtor by trade and had planned on owning this business as a hobby,\u201d said Steven. \u201cIt only took me about six months to realize that this was much more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple threw themselves into the business, building on the core capabilities that had made it a success. And then, four years of double digit sales growth made it clear that they needed more space. \u201cWe felt like we were at a point of diminishing returns,\u201d said Steven.\u00a0\u201cWe had many locals who no longer would try to get in because the wait for a table was too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple found a building at 1712 Sudderth Drive and started looking for financing options.<\/p>\n

Ingredient for growth<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gomezes learned about New Mexico-based Enchantment Land Certified Development Company through their long-time banker at First National Bank in Ruidoso. Other banks had turned the couple away because of the \u201chigher risk of [loaning to] the restaurant industry,\u201d Steven said.<\/p>\n

Deborah Romero, senior commercial loan officer at First National Bank in Alamogordo and a participant of the loan committee, said that by partnering with ELCDC on the U.S. Small Business Administration\u2019s 504 loan, the bank was able to mitigate risk and do the loan.<\/p>\n

The SBA 504 is designed to assist with financing fixed assets. Funds can be used for small business expansion and improvements \u2014 things like construction and the purchase of commercial real estate or equipment.<\/p>\n

ELCDC specializes in helping small businesses navigate the SBA 504 loan program. The nonprofit organization typically provides 40 percent of the loan total, the bank provides another 50 percent and the borrower comes up with 10 percent. Loan terms are 10, 20 or 25 years, depending on what it is being financed, and are designed to allow the business to retain working capital.<\/p>\n

Don Panagrossi, who has been helping ELCDC customers navigate the 504-loan process since 2002, said the SBA\u2019s portion of the financing includes a long-term and a fixed rate. \u201cThose are just two features that make the SBA 504 loan program so attractive to businesses from small villages like Ruidoso to larger metros like Albuquerque,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Romero said the financing partnership between First National and ELCDC worked well. \u201cIt was a good working relationship,\u201d she said. As a result, \u201cCornerstone is doing really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Besides helping Cornerstone grow into a new space, the loan allowed the cafe to offer more to its customers. The business now employs 40 full-time workers \u2014 about double the number at the previous location \u2014 and added a drive-thru window and online ordering that have increased customer convenience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe loan and space will allow us to continue to grow for many years to come,\u201d said Steven, who praised ELCDC for its help.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of knowledge and guidance from Don was spectacular,\u201d he said. \u201cI needed some serious handholding during this transition in our business. I was pleased with the initial process and the continued communication and follow through all the way to the end. Our project had a few delays [caused by the] construction project. I greatly appreciated the patience from ELCDC,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To learn more about ELCDC and the SBA 504 loan, visit www.elcdc.com<\/a>. Reach a First National Bank lender at www.fnb4u.com<\/a>. For sweet and savory food from Cornerstone Bakery and Cafe in Ruidoso, visit www.cornerstonebakerycafe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By Damon Scott, Finance New Mexico; Article 562<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Damon Scott If you whisk together hard work and passion and then throw in an effective loan program, your chances for small business success will likely be high. Those ingredients came together in Ruidoso, where Steven and Marie Gomez … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9868"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9936,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9868\/revisions\/9936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}