Category: Borrower Stories
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How a PPP Loan From a Low-Income Designated Credit Union Gave This Bay Area Nonprofit The Promise of a Brighter Tomorrow
Barbara McCullough knows a thing or two about nonprofit management. She’s been the CEO at Brighter Beginnings, a nonprofit created in 1984 to respond to the needs of families in resource-poor neighborhoods across Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, for nearly 24 years. With that level of experience comes the understanding that government funding is anything…
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Ebony Harris, The Entrepreneur Putting Children — And Parents — In Good Hands
Ebony Harris has a special way with children — it’s a gift. She thought about pursuing a career as a pediatric nurse, but that didn’t appeal to her entrepreneurial spirit. Instead, in 2015, set her sights on opening a childcare center, where she could educate, support, and influence kids. Her and her husband, John, had…
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Meet Dr. Ira Mandel, The Retired Physician Opening Up Recovery Residences Along Maine’s Midcoast
Dr. Ira Mandel self identifies as “the nut” who runs into a burning building to help people when everyone else is running in the opposite direction. That’s exactly what happened in 2006, when Ira moved to Maine to take over the Pen Bay Medical Center’s hospice program. During his first week on the job, a…
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How A Canoe-Building Small Business, Kamanu Composites, Switched To Making Face Shields To Weather The COVID-19 Storm
If there’s one thing Kamanu Composites has done well over the past 13 years, it’s been finding a way to stay afloat as a small business. The O‘ahu-based company, which specializes in outrigger canoe manufacturing, is one of the last of its kind on the islands. Most of Kamanu’s competitors have packed up and taken…
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Impact Story: Mountainside Community Cooperative
How Capital and Coaching Allowed Mountainside Residents To Purchase Their Park and Control Their Own Destiny Margaret Jones grew up and went to school in Camden, Maine; however, that didn’t make things any easier for her when she moved back to the idyllic town of her youth after 30 years of being away. Although Camden…
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Meet Tysh Billingsley, The Cancer Survivor Who Brought Her Dream Business To Life
Before Tysh Billingsley was an entrepreneur, she was a dreamer. Literally. Tysh’s idea for her business, Finale, a popup wine and food experience centered around local art and music, came to her in a dream. According to Tysh, her dream was so vivid and full of sights and sounds that as soon as she woke…
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Meet April Westman, The Entrepreneur Tackling Her Community’s Child Care Shortage
If April Westman was going to start a small business anywhere in the world, it was always going to be in Duluth, Minnesota: the city on Lake Superior where she grew up. Of course, she didn’t always know that. After high school, April followed her dreams to be a banker in Southern California, but a…
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Meet Jamar Kirk, The Entrepreneurial Life Coach Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty In His Community
Jamar Kirk didn’t have to think too hard about what to name his new business, which provides consulting, coaching, mentoring, and resources to often marginalized and at-risk demographics of his community — a community that struggles with violence, drug use, and a 50 percent high school attrition rate for minority students. After all, that’s just…
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Meet Rebecca Biesenbach, The Ice Cream-Loving Entrepreneur Behind Grandma B’s Sweet Treats
If there’s one thing that Rebecca Biesenbach loves, it’s Blue Bell’s old-fashioned ice cream. And it’s not just the company’s 66 unique flavors and deep Texas roots that she appreciates: Rebecca loves how Blue Bell’s ice cream brings people together. That’s what led her to open her own ice cream shop in Rockport, Texas, in…
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Linda Newman, Dog Sled Musher and Off-the-Grid Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Linda Newman didn’t technically answer the call of the wild when she opened up Points Unknown, an off-the-grid homestead and sled dog-based adventure company, but she did follow her passion. After 23 years as a real estate appraiser outside of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St.Paul), Newman sold everything, cashed in her 401(k), and moved to…