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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.
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.”
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Patrick and Adriane Hodges were teachers in Virginia Beach that dabbled in home beer brewing, but it was when they attended a beer fest in 2017 that their lives took a different direction. Patrick saw the brewing setup of one of the craft brewers at the beer fest and noticed it was the same setup he had at his home. “I was using the same brewing setup to give my beer away to friends as this company was using to provide their product to paying customers,” said Patrick, “If they can do it, why can’t I?”
Adrian Paredes, owner of the Austin-based Tamale Addiction, was helped with two loans from the BCL Business Growth Fund. From pork pastor with pineapple and onions to vegan nopalitos and sweet guava tamales, Paredes has been able to learn from his customers and successfully diversify his product to meet new market trends.
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.
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.”
Before you even have to do a single pushup, all you have to do is spend five minutes with Focus Fitness owner Dave Schulze and you’ll see why his customers seek out his personal and group training services. His inspiration is contagious, and for the owner of a small business, he definitely has a big vision for the future.
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.
Donald has been working in the fuel department at the City of Dallas for 8 years, and this is the first time he’s seen a benefit like the Community Loan Center of Dallas offered through his employer.
“This is a great program that’s very beneficial for those who use it,” Donald says. “It was easy to use online and the money came right on time.”
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