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Seeing our clients achieve key milestones is what drives our work at BCL of Texas. From startups that have expanded to multi-employee businesses to families buying their first homes, our success all comes down to you.
Kayla Mendoza always knew that she wanted to empower women with fashion. She remembers as a young child, seeing her mother, a school teacher, change out of her work clothes to get ready for a wedding. “I saw her transform when she put on that dress,” she said. “I saw how good she felt. Seeing my mom feel beautiful and excited to go out was my first glimpse at how a garment can truly change someone’s attitude and day.”
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Guy Lahav and Gary Franco left their established lives and careers in Los Angeles to move to Gonzales, Texas with a dream of opening a dance studio to foster the love of arts and dance in small-town Texas.
With the help of BCL of Texas’ small business lending services, Guy and Gary were able to secure a building in downtown Gonzales, and Come and Take It Dance was born.
As new homeowner Steven Hanaway stands over his cast iron skillet talking about his love of cooking he says, “One of my favorite things about owning a home is that I love being able to pick my own appliances.”
Military veteran Dave Demorrow started All Era Militaria with just two duffel bags of military gear after he left the Army. As a disabled veteran, he knew he couldn’t work a traditional job, so he decided to start his own business using his expertise in military equipment and training.
For Amy Morales at Kapeesh Marketing, it took a hurricane to help propel her and her husband’s business to its next stage of growth. After working from their home office for 4 years, the flooding waters of Harvey left the Morales family with a decimated home and home office: no walls, drywall removed, and cement floors.
Jade Greenough is one of those rare people who figured out exactly what she wanted to do while she was still in high school. For Jade, it’s all about building genuine and supportive relationships with those around her.
KTonic Kombucha emerged from the seed of an idea, germinating around the concept of transforming tea into a fermented beverage. In pursuit of a healthful and functionally balanced drink, KTonic embarked on a journey to create a version of the beverage that maintains a “tea-centric” profile with the lowest sugar content possible.
Ruth and Arnold Guerra were born and raised in Gonzales, Texas, where they have opened hotels, restaurants, and built homes to meet their community’s needs. “We started with nothing,” Ruth said. Now, they have built over 100 homes in their community of 7,000 people.
I visited the Guerras and we drove around the town, as Ruth pointed out both homes she and her husband had worked on, as well as other neighborhoods of older homes in states of disrepair. Gonzales has not had new home construction in a long time. “Big builders are not going to come into this town,” Ruth said. In a previous subdivision, a builder constructed about 5 homes and then left town, the work unfinished. We drove past a 17-home affordable subdivision of 3-bedroom homes the Guerras built in 2009.
Now, they are building Angel Oaks, a 6-home development for median income families, featuring 3-bedroom ranch-style homes with yards. A longtime customer of BCL, having worked with us in the past for an SBA 504 loan, the Guerra family is now working with BCL’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Texas Community Builders for our new pre-development loan product.
The demand for median-priced new housing in Gonzales is apparent, as five of the Angel Oaks homes have already been purchased, just as groundbreaking has barely begun. Most of the buyers are people of color, and all are first-time homeowners. “People are getting out of renting and into their first homes,” Ruth said.
And as with their hotels, their construction business is a family venture. They’ve taught their two daughters skills in construction, management, and project administration. “In the big city, you get a job and you learn one thing,” Ruth said. She said her daughters are now prepared with a wide range of skills to take on all kinds of jobs.
“I’m really glad that Texas Community Builders is investing in small developers,” Ruth said. “I appreciate that they saw that we have projects that will benefit individuals that probably never would have been able to buy a home. Without Texas Community Builders, we would not have been able to do this project.”
Suite 500 Austin, TX 78701 P: 512.912.9884 F: 346.301.5752 NMLS #1114924
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