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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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Many of you know that BCL has a new Dallas office - but what you may not know is that one of our BCL customers, a florist, is now in the old BCL space! Martha Banda of Event Stems approached BCL because she was looking for a bigger and more permanent space for her business to grow.
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.”
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.
After working for other insurance agencies for several years, Sergio Cruz felt it was time to branch out and start his own venture. He drew on his wealth of experience to found Lowmas Insurance & Financial Services, offering a full suite of insurance and financial services to the Dallas area.
Brice Hand had extensive experience in poultry farming and owned acres upon acres of land, but he needed help to make the most of it. Thanks to BCL’s assistance, he has used the SBA 504 Loan program twice to construct new hen housing with state-of-the-art energy efficient equipment, making Brice one of the largest poultry producers in his community and for all of Tyson Foods.
Shaniqua Ross, a successful accountant, dreamed of breaking free from corporate life and building her own transportation business, Reliable Trusted 4 Transport & Courier Services. Like many aspiring entrepreneurs, she knew the journey would be challenging and that guidance was essential. That’s where BCL of Texas and the power of entrepreneurial coaching came in.
Jamie and Ricky had always rented, and when the idea of homeownership came up they weren’t sure where to start. Jamie approached Daniel Garcia at BCL of Texas, who answered some of her initial questions and recommended they take the 8-hour Homebuyer Education course at the BCL of Texas HomeOwnership Center.
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