arrowHome arrow Success Storiesarrow Diversity Hair Salon Saturday, 31 July 2010
 
Main Menu
Home
Services
What's New
Success Stories
Supporters
Events
Links of Interest
Contact Us
Members
Search
Special Events Image Galleries
Player
Contact Us


802-479-0167
Fax: 802-479-2867
P.O. Box 342
107 N. Main Street, Suite 7
Barre, VT 05641
E:mail: Info
Search
<strong>Jackie &amp; Leroy Nedd<br />Diversity Hair Salon<br />Burlington, VT</strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;"> <p>Meet Leroy and Jackie Nedd, a couple full of enthusiasm for their new business, Diversity Hair Salon, located at 94 Pearl St in Burlington. A full-service salon offering all the usual hair-styling, Diversity lives up to its name by providing unique services such as braids, extensions, weaves, corn rows, fading, dreadlocks and much more. With all these options available for every type of hair-styling need, Jackie says that &lsquo;our business is a great expression of each individual&rsquo;. </p></span><p>Jackie&rsquo;s accomplishments in her home country of Jamaica formed the basis for later stints in a work program for hotels in the states; she&rsquo;d be here in the summer and go home in the winter. Jackie and Leroy met during one of those times when she offered to braid his hair to show him her expertise. &lsquo;I gave it a shot&rsquo;, he says, &lsquo;She just has the touch. She was born to do what she&rsquo;s doing.&rsquo; </p><p>Leroy had been in business before and was looking for an opportunity that he and Jackie could pursue without the complication of partners. &lsquo;I had a few different ideas&rsquo; Leroy commented. &lsquo;However, my wife is a cosmetologist and good at what she does. I had a good secure job so I wanted to do something that would employ Jackie and that she loved to do. I saw the demand for African-American services.&rsquo; Leroy also wanted to capitalize on the informal local following of clients that found Jackie through word-of-mouth. Leroy talked to people about what they wanted for services, to salons about what they did, and to friends who own businesses. He made good use of the extensive networks he&rsquo;d built throughout his years of living and working in Burlington. </p><p>After doing his own research on the street and at the library, Leroy went to Richard Munkelwitz, the local Small Business Development Center counselor at that time, for help putting his plan together. Leroy told Richard what he wanted to do and Richard referred Leroy and Jackie to Community Capital as a source for a loan and they applied right away. Jackie was nearing the completion of a two-year cosmetology program and was in reach of gaining the certification and license she needed to practice her trade locally. </p><p>&lsquo;After the ball got rolling it went well, and everything fell right in place&rsquo; according to Leroy. The Nedds&rsquo; have also benefited from Community Capital&rsquo;s Post Loan Technical Assistance with bookkeeping services and instruction that have saved them much time and trouble. </p><p>Diversity is doing more than surviving in this hard time. A recent ad on the radio netted four appointments within a couple of hours, and clients are coming from as far away as White River Junction and Newport, eager for services that meet their particular needs. Leroy predicted that they would work on getting more people there and things will be fine. He adds: &lsquo;And that is exactly what happened.&rsquo; He says nothing could stop him. He was persistent and determined because he&rsquo;d done the research, he knew it would work, and he was passionate about their idea. Commenting on their success, Leroy asserts that &lsquo;the things that Jackie does, I don&rsquo;t see anyone else in Vermont who does it. She&rsquo;s very professional at weaving. You cannot tell that there&rsquo;s a weave in the hair. And she&rsquo;s fast, so she&rsquo;s economical for people at a set price.&rsquo; Leroy adds that they have a retail section with products and accessories. They sell hair for weaving right at the store along with wigs for young people and cancer patients, a service they expect to expand. </p><p>Leroy advises entrepreneurs to &lsquo;make sure you are passionate about what you want to do. Do research and make sure you know what you are getting into. Feel whether or not it&rsquo;s a good business and whether it will work. Exhaust every area of research that relates to that business. And just go for it!&rsquo; Community Capital is delighted to help the Nedds achieve their dream and provide a warm and welcoming place where, in Leroy&rsquo;s words, &lsquo;customers are excited and happy&rsquo;. &lsquo;Without the loan, we could not have opened up the business. Getting the loan was very helpful and I&rsquo;m glad I got it through Community Capital. It&rsquo;s like a family type deal, you feel part of them and that really helps too. When I hear Kara&rsquo;s voice, she knows who I am. I appreciate all the work Community Capital has done for me. It feels good. When they walk out of here and I see smiles on their faces, all I can say is thank you Community Capital.&rdquo;</p>

Diversity Hair Salon
<p><strong>Alessandro Fuchs<br />4LessUS LLC<br />Burlington, VT</strong></p><p>Meet Alex Fuchs who owns 4LessUS LLC, a locally-owned business based in Burlington that exclusively sells refurbished the Apple iPod, iTouch, and iPhone. </p><p>&lsquo;We are&rsquo;, Fuchs says, &lsquo;the only company in the United States that exclusively sells refurbished products. In the industry there is no set standard when it comes to refurbishing a product for resale. At iPods4Less, we set the standard. All our Apple products undergo a detailed inspection and testing process to discover any mechanical or cosmetic faults. Once any needed repairs have been made, our products undergo forty-eight hours of additional testing to make sure that the repairs have been effective. Our testing and repair process is so comprehensive and complete, that we are the only company nationwide to offer a one year warranty on all products that we sell.&rsquo; </p><p>Alex honed his mission and goals through his participation in the BYOBiz program at Champlain College in Burlington. Alex says that this program and its director, Robert Bloch, were instrumental in assisting them with their business idea and plan. Once started on achieving their business goals, Alex found he needed working capital to put his operations on the right footing. </p><p>Alex applied to Community Capital for a loan and they were off and running. Commenting on the assistance he received, Alex says &lsquo;The capital infusion provided by Community Capital has allowed us to build critical infrastructure and buy in bulk passing the savings onto our customers while building margins. (Community Capital&rsquo;s) technical assistance grant helped us in setting up an advanced accounting system so we can track every dollar in and out of the business. Wendelyn Duquette, of QuickStart based in Stowe was instrumental in helping us with our financial management system. Working with Community Capital&rsquo;, Alex affirms, &lsquo;allowed our business to compete nationally. As a result of the capital infusion we received, our sales are four times our best projections.&rsquo; </p><p>Alex has this advice for other entrepreneurs: &lsquo;If you think you have that great idea, take the next step and invest controlled amounts of capital to test your idea in the marketplace. If your idea proves successful on a small scale, put it down on paper with a business plan and use the resources available in your community like BYOBiz, Community Capital of Vermont and many others to help get your business off the ground.&rsquo; </p><p>Community Capital is pleased to extend such assistance to up and coming entrepreneurs like Alex Fuchs and his company. With expertise and energy like Alex&rsquo;s, his business future and Vermont&rsquo;s business future look bright.</p>

4LessUS LLC
<p><strong>Peter Goldsmith<br />Home Care Assistance<br />Burlington, VT</strong></p><p>Meet Peter Goldsmith, a long-time Chittenden County entrepreneur who opened a Home Care Assistance (HCA) franchise in Vermont nearly two years ago. Goldsmith&rsquo;s decision to go into business for himself at age 55 was difficult. &lsquo;It was difficult insofar as I had done it before and really wasn&#39;t sure that I wanted to take on such a risk again, but I was just not happy, nor was I very good at working for someone else. And, I&#39;ve owned my own business since 1977.&rsquo; </p><p>Using his existing networks and researching current business trends, Goldsmith looked for a niche business that would fit his personal criteria. He found that a home-based Senior care business and specifically the Home Care Assistance franchise was a perfect fit. The idea &lsquo;simply struck me&rsquo;, he says, &lsquo;as something I would love, be great at, and would fit all my criteria.&rdquo;. HCA assists Senior Citizens with the activities of daily living so they can remain safely and happily in their homes. Goldsmith is proud of the fact that they &lsquo;do the best job of providing consistency of caregivers for the client and pay extra attention to matching our clients and caregivers.&rsquo; &lsquo;Many people could do a job,&rsquo; says Goldsmith, &lsquo;but we want to assign the best person possible&rsquo;. </p><p>Goldsmith started his business with personal savings and a short-term loan from a bank. Nearly two years into the business, Goldsmith needed more working capital to grow the business, but the bank wasn&rsquo;t able to extend additional credit. The bank referred him to Community Capital, he applied, and received the loan he needed. He notes that &lsquo;the loan from Community Capital has made the difference for me and my business between worrying every night that we&#39;re going to bounce checks if sales go down for a week or two, and being able to look forward to normal growth including minor downturns which we can take in stride.&rsquo; Goldsmith says that Community Capital&rsquo;s Emily Kaminsky &lsquo;seemed to really understand the day to day problems of a small business/start up&rsquo; and that &lsquo;Community Capital seemed to look at me, my history, the opportunity of the business and the growth we&#39;d already shown over the first two years for it&#39;s decision and didn&#39;t focus, as the banks did, on the collateral that they could get if I failed, in a service business that doesn&#39;t have collateral.&rsquo; </p><p>Based on his years of self-employment, Goldsmith has a few recommendations for other business owners: - &lsquo;Always try to look for the dark side of a business. With all the excitement and positive possibility that you&#39;re looking at, what are you ignoring? - Let people try to talk you out of it. - Get specialists to help you in key areas that you might not be personally good at -marketing, accounting, customer service. - Make sure you have more money available than you think you&#39;ll need. It almost never grows as fast as you hope it will.&rsquo; Goldsmith&rsquo;s business fit right within Community Capital&rsquo;s target market &ndash; a recent business, minimal collateral, difficulty accessing commercial financing, and potential for growth. </p><p>Community Capital is proud to be a partner to Goldsmith in building his business. For more information on HCA, visit <a href="http://www.homecareassistance.com" target="_blank">http://www.homecareassistance.com</a>.</p>

Home Care Assistance
<p><strong>Cathleen Branon-Keough<br />Healing Earth Vermont Herbals<br />Fairfax, VT</strong></p><p>Meet Cathleen Branon-Keogh of Healing Earth Vermont Herbals LLC an herbal personal care business located in Fairfax, VT. She makes herbal salves, lip balms, skin creams, healing massage oils, natural bug repellent and solid perfumes. She borrowed from Community Capital to take her business to the next level. </p><p>Branon-Keough first used skills learned from an herbalist apprenticeship in Maine in developing a &ldquo;healing salve&rdquo; for her infant. Called &ldquo;boo-boo cream&rdquo;, she gave it out to friends and families to use for dry, cracked skin or scrapes. She was already participating in craft fairs and farmer&rsquo;s markets for her jewelry so adding the cream to her repertoire was easy. Well, the response was overwhelming. &ldquo;With each market, I would have people just pleading with me to help them,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Whether it was their young son&rsquo;s Eczema or the senior citizen struggling with arthritis in her hands, or his knees, or the young woman with psoriasis on her arms. I felt compelled to help all of them, and so moved forward to expand my line.&rdquo; </p><p>While she feels that her line tends to be more medicinal than most, she likes to shake it up with Shimmer Lip Balms and Solid Perfumes too. &ldquo;The products I offer are truly a response to the requests of customers, friends, and people I have met at the Farmer&rsquo;s Market. I do enjoy developing a new recipe, but the most satisfying thing is to offer a salve, or an oil, or a cream, or a lip balm, that answers a need for people.&rdquo; </p><p>When she decided to get serious about turning this into a viable business, she went to the Small Business Development Center to consult with one of their counselors. Branon-Keough has also worked with counselors from the Micro business Program and the Women&rsquo;s Small Business Program and SCORE. </p><p>Her advice to anyone starting or expanding a business is, &ldquo;Use the resources that are available&hellip;all of them. Make a business plan, and use it as a tool. If you don&rsquo;t understand it, or have questions, ask for help. There are many people out there wanting to help small businesses be successful.&rdquo; The SBDC Counselor sent her to Community Capital of VT. </p><p>&quot;I had no idea how much&nbsp;Community Capital&nbsp;offered when I got started working with them,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;When I found out about the Post Loan Technical Assistance they offered I was completely amazed. The PLTA enabled me to have a professional QuickBooks accountant help me put all of my business, including inventory tracking, into QuickBooks, and then be trained one-on-one how to use the program. This alone has saved me an incredible amount of time on a weekly and quarterly basis, and has helped me to have better control of my financials. I also worked with a financial analyst to better understand my quarterly and annual reports. Now I am looking forward to working with Vermont Manufacturing Extension to learn more about lean manufacturing to make my workshop space more efficient.&rdquo; </p><p>&ldquo;The Post Loan Technical support I received was crafted to fit my individual needs. I was able to expand my business with the loan and then receive training on the skills I needed to support the expansion. It doesn&rsquo;t get any better than that! I am very grateful that Community Capital offers the technical assistance.&rdquo;</p>

Healing Earth
<p><strong>Stephen Halikas and Christina Haugwitz<br />Boathouse Grill<br />Newport, VT</strong></p><p>The <a href="http://theboathousegrill.com/home" target="_blank">Boathouse Grill</a> is the latest addition to the Newport City waterfront. Housed in the Emery Hebard Building, the restaurant has long views up Lake Mephramagog and is conveniently located next to the boardwalk. Open for dinners during the winter, there will be an outdoor eating area and lunch service come summer.</p><p>Using a nautical d&eacute;cor, the husband and wife team of Stephen Halikas and Christina Haugwitz aimed to create a cozy and festive place where people can enjoy fresh fish from around the world, other fresh seafood, steaks and pasta; a place for special celebrations or a quiet evening in good company. They have developed a varied menu with many hallmark touches that showcase the flavors and textures of fresh herbs and spices that compliment and differentiate the ingredients and final menu selection.</p><p>To realize their vision, Stephen and Christina went to a number of local and regional lenders including <a href="http://www.communitycapitalvt.org" target="_blank">Community Capital of VT</a>, <a href="http://www.communitynationalbank.com" target="_blank">Community National Bank</a>, <a href="http://www.ncic.org" target="_blank">Northern Community Investment Corporation</a>, and the <a href="http://www.vclf.org" target="_blank">Vermont Community Loan Fund</a>.&nbsp; Stephen reports that &quot;Community Capital was instrumental in getting the project and running.&nbsp; Working with Olivia it was obvious from the beginning that there was genuine support for the restaurant.&nbsp; It is rare to find lending organizations that are easy to deal with and take an active interest in the venture.&quot;</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">Community Capital salutes Stephen and Christina for their hard work and perseverance in bringing this fine dining experience to the North Country and we are pleased to be working with them and other partners on this venture.</p>

Boathouse Grill
<p><strong>Kelly Richardson<br />Sunflower Salon<br />Waterbury, VT</strong></p><p>After graduating from the Salon Professional Academy and working in the field of cosmetology for a period of time, Kelly Richardson decided to open her own salon. She worked with business counselor Margaret Ferguson at the Micro Business Development Program at Central Vermont Community Action Council (CVCAC) to refine her idea and write a business plan. </p><p>Kelly then used her plan to apply to Community Capital of Vermont for start-up funds and worked with Olivia Gay, Loan Officer for the Central Vermont region. &ldquo;Olivia was fantastic. She was really clear about what she needed from me.,&rdquo; says Richardson. Working together was a mutual pleasure, according to Gay, &ldquo;Kelly came to Community Capital for a loan to make her dream of her own salon into a reality. She brings so much energetic professionalism to her work that she is bound to be a success.&rdquo; </p><p>Richardson&rsquo;s loan was approved to open her new space in downtown Waterbury and she was on her way. Sunflower Salon is a perfect name for Kelly Richardson&rsquo;s new Waterbury business. Beside cuts, manicures, pedicures, facials and more, every single person who walks in &ndash; and there are many - is greeted with a joyful smile. Together with the warm colors and intimate space, it&rsquo;s easy to feel like you&rsquo;ve come to visit a friend when you come in the door. </p><p>Richardson opened her salon in December and Sunflower Salon has been busy from the first day. Since opening, Sunflower Salon has received encouragement and a warm welcome from the local community. Both individuals and businesses have greeted her with flowers -yes, sunflowers included&mdash;and her appointment book is filling fast. Sunflower Salon is located at 19 Stowe St. in Waterbury, (802) 560-4105.</p>

Sunflower Salon
<p><strong>Deborah and Alan Brown<br />MacLaomainn&#39;s Pub<br />Chester, VT</strong></p><p>Community Capital is pleased to have made a loan to&nbsp;this authentic Scottish pub in Chester, VT.&nbsp; Here is an article from the Vermont Journal written 3 months following their opening in August 2008.</p><p>Get in touch with MacLaomainn&#39;s through their Facebook page by clicking <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chester-VT/MacLaomainns-Scottish-Pub/60562631217" target="_blank">here</a>!</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span class="title1"><span style="font-size: 19pt"><strong><font face="Garamond" color="#006400">A touch of Scotland in Vermont&#39;s hills </font></strong></span></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" color="#000000">&nbsp;</font><span class="author1"><span style="font-size: 10pt"><a href="http://www.vermontjournal.com/1editorialtablebody.lasso?-token.searchtype=authorroutine&amp;-token.lpsearchstring=MARILYN%20LEDOUX&amp;-nothing"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none"><font face="Garamond" size="2">by MARILYN LEDOUX</font></span><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none"><br /><font face="Garamond" size="2">Asst. Editor</font></span></a><font face="Garamond" color="#000000">, Vermont Journal</font></span></span><font face="Times New Roman" size="3" color="#000000">&nbsp;</font> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Garamond"><strong><font color="#006400"><span class="editorialdate1"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">October 07, 2008 | 03:39 PM</span></span><br /></font></strong><font color="#000000"><span class="body1"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt">CHESTER</span></span><span class="body1"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt"> &ndash; A love of cribbage brought a man from Paisley, Scotland to the hills of Vermont to meet a woman and start a business.</span></span></font></font><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: black; font-family: Garamond"><br /><br /><span class="body1">Scotsman Alan Brown and Chester resident Deb Brown had been playing in online cribbage tournaments. Between moves, they got to know what each other was like, with Alan eventually trekking from Scotland to be with Deb and do what he always wanted to do business-wise.</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">Alan desired to open a Scottish Pub, and Deb had always dreamed of owning her own business. Together, they opened MacLaomainn&#39;s Pub, at 52 Main St. in Chester, on a date that Alan said is his lucky number, 08/08/08. The pub is a cozy, comfortable place with hand-hewn beams, a beautiful bay window and a homey atmosphere where people can while away an evening.</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">The couple got married in the pub as soon as they finished building it.</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">&quot;A pub in Scotland is traditional and simple, and at the end of the day, it becomes an extension of your living room,&quot; Alan said. &quot;In Scotland, people go to the pub to have conversation, visit with friends and enjoy a pint. It is all very friendly.&quot;</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">MacLaomainn&#39;s is a fully licensed bar, and Alan tends to patron&#39;s requests. Deb waits tables with a warm, ready smile. People of Scottish descent are encouraged to bring in their plaids to add to the collage the Browns are making on one wall, or to research their plaid with Alan.</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">The pub menu is something people in Vermont appear ready to try. High on the list are two favorite sandwiches, steak pie and rarebit.</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">&quot;I decided to try a true Scottish favorite here,&quot; Alan said. &quot;Haggis is comprised of sheep&#39;s heart, liver and lung, minced with onions, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt, and boiled in the animal&#39;s stomach for around three hours. I have been keeping count, and so far have served 49 plates, and 49 plates came back clean.&quot;</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">The pub also serves a variety of sandwiches and a steak pie, made with tender bits of beef in rich gravy, topped with a flaky puffed pastry and served with mashed potatoes and carrots. Adventurous diners can wash their steak pie down with Scottish beers in bottles with strange names&mdash;Skullsplitter, Dark Island or Dragonhead Stout&mdash;or the traditional coffee or tea. MacLaomainn&#39;s Pub also serves an array of Scottish whiskeys, and they have a take-out menu.</span><br /><br /><span class="body1">MacLaomainn&#39;s is open on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 p.m.; and closed on Tuesdays.</span></span></p>

MacLaomainn's Pub
<p><strong>Arlene Disbrow</strong><br /><strong>Crucial Communications, LLC </strong><br /><strong>East Randolph, VT</strong> </p><p>A communication partner to non-verbal individuals with experience in private nursing and home health, Arlene Disbrow of Crucial Communications recalls the struggle her father, who suffered from Parkinson&rsquo;s Disease and Lyme Disease, had in communicating with those around him. &ldquo;In my desperation to hear what my father wanted to say,&rdquo; says Disbrow, &ldquo;I created the Point to Communicate system enabling him to communicate with his caregivers; his wife, family and friends, and the medical team.&rdquo; </p><p>After some research, Arlene found that special needs individuals had a variety of technologies available to them, but there was nothing reasonably priced and available for the average person who is disabled with the loss of voice and writing. Soon what began as an idea focused on meeting her father&rsquo;s needs evolved into a full-blown business venture. </p><p>&ldquo;Finding funding sources was a big challenge. It was difficult for financial backers to see the &lsquo;big picture&rsquo;.&rdquo; Community Capital understood and helped Arlene fund her venture. </p><p>Now the owner of Crucial Communications, Arlene offers her unique communications aid to people who have lost the ability to speak and write due to illness, injury, disease, or ageing. &ldquo;The Point to Communicate system immediately changed the quality of my father&rsquo;s life in a positive way and restored his integrity.&rdquo; Through Crucial Communications, Arlene is now able to offer the same help to others.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Crucial Communications, LLC
Claire Fitts Butterfly Bakery Vermont Claire Fitts, owner of Butterfly Bakery, was baking in the middle of night in a rented kitchen. This situation made business expansion difficult. Claire remembers, “I would have had to double my production to justify the cost of adding just one more day in a rented space.” Claire had already received a loan from Community Capital to expand her product line, so she turned to us again when her financial institution turned her down for a loan. Community Capital gave her the financing and enlisted a business consultant to help her market her products. Claire is thriving in her own space, which has allowed her to expand her product line and increase her visibility.

Butterfly Bakery
<p><strong>Janice DeGoosh </strong><br /><strong>2008 Entrepreneur of the Year </strong><br /><strong>The Pink Shutter Montpelier, VT</strong> </p><p><br />The Pink Shutter&rsquo;s Janice DeGoosh started working in the floral business nearly 30 years ago. Although she thought about owning her own store, she said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to be the owner of a floral business when you have kids because it takes up so much of your time during the holidays. But I still had so many of my own ideas, and when you&rsquo;re working for someone else it&rsquo;s hard to do those things.&rdquo; </p><p>Janice eventually moved to Montpelier and began working at The Pink Shutter. When the previous owners decided to sell, Janice had been there for six years and felt it was the right time to pursue her dream of owning her own business. </p><p>&ldquo;My kids were grown; I owned my home, so it seemed like a good time to do it.&rdquo; She wrote a business plan and did all of the other necessary groundwork, and then met with a bank and Community Capital who supplied her with her first loan. </p><p>Under Janice&rsquo;s management, the store continued to prosper &ndash; rapidly in the wedding and events area &ndash; and three years ago, at the urging of her daughter, Karen, Janice expanded the store and began a home goods section in her new space. </p><p>&ldquo;Community Capital has been there for every bump in the road. After working with them, it&rsquo;s almost hard to imagine how you can&rsquo;t succeed!&rdquo; The Pink Shutter celebrated its 50th year, five of those under Janice&rsquo;s management, in 2007.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

The Pink Shutter
<p><strong>Laura Savard, Lena Cannizzaro and Arica Bronz </strong><br /><strong>Pilates Space </strong><br /><strong>Burlington, VT</strong> </p><p>&quot;We&rsquo;re not just Pilates anymore,&rdquo; said Laura Savard, who, with Lena Cannizzaro and Arica Bronz, purchased Burlington&rsquo;s Pilates Space. &ldquo;We wanted to turn this business into something more holistic that wasn&rsquo;t just focus on Pilates. The three of us have very different skill sets that compliment each other. Lena is a physical therapist, Pilates teacher, and practices craniosacral therapy; Arica is an Anusara Inspired Yoga teacher and Pilates teacher; and I&rsquo;m a Holistic Health counselor &ndash; I teach whole foods nutrition.&rdquo; </p><p>In 2008, the trio &ndash; then employees of Pilates Space &ndash; became faced with the prospect of having to find new employment when their boss decided to sell the business. But rather than go their separate ways, the women decided to take the leap into entrepreneurialism and purchase the business. </p><p>&ldquo;It just made sense,&rdquo; said Savard. &ldquo;We went to the Small Business Development Center to find out how to buy a business, and they directed us to Community Capital.&rdquo; </p><p>&ldquo;Like a lot of young people who are trying to start a business,&rdquo; Bronz noted, &ldquo;we didn&rsquo;t have access to that kind of capital, so I&rsquo;m really glad Vermont has an organization like Community Capital. </p><p>&ldquo;And although we worked with our loan officer to secure finding,&rdquo; said Cannizzaro, &ldquo;he offered much more in terms of resources than we would have been able to get through a traditional bank. I feel like Community Capital really understood what we wanted to do and they helped us get through the many details of buying a business.&rdquo;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Pilates Space
<p><strong>Diana Jones </strong><br /><strong>Double Entry Bookkeeping Services, LLC </strong><br /><strong>South Burlington, VT</strong> </p><p>Where does a small business go when they need help with bookkeeping, payroll, taxes, cash flow projections, and QuickBooks assistance? In most areas of the state, you have to go to at least two different professionals to get all of that assistance. But, in the greater Chittenden County area, small business owners are lucky to have a &ldquo;one-stop shop&rdquo; in Diana Jones of Double Entry Bookkeeping Services, LLC. </p><p>Jones started her business six years ago as a part-time job for herself. &ldquo;I started part-time just to get by and bring some money in. But it started to grow. Here I am six years later and I employ myself and now two other people!&rdquo; she says. She provides personalized and customizable bookkeeping, tax, QuickBooks, and other services to small businesses. &ldquo;I can do as much or as little as my clients want,&rdquo; she explains. </p><p>Recently, Jones saw an opportunity to provide business start-up consultation and higher level bookkeeping services to clients, but she couldn&rsquo;t offer the service without adding a full-time employee. After learning about Community Capital from the Women&rsquo;s Business Owners Network, where she is board president, she applied for a business expansion loan. &ldquo;Community Capital has given me the funds to increase my tax education and to be able to hire a full-time employee to expand and give higher level services. The loan was a God-send!&rdquo; she exclaimed. </p><p>Jones holds a degree in Management from St. John&#39;s University. She also holds a degree in Accounting from Champlain College and has worked directly in the accounting profession now for over a decade. Double Entry Bookkeeping Services, LLC is located in South Burlington on Shelburne Road. For more information, contact 802-860-3342 or visit her website at www.doubleentrybookkeeping.net.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Double Entry Bookkeeping Services
<p><strong>Jessica Turner<br /> Capital Kitchen<br /> Montpelier, VT</strong><br /> <br /> On May 1, Jessica Turner opened the doors to Capital Kitchen at 18 Main St. in Montpelier. Although Turner is a first time business owner, she worked for four years as an employee of Mise en Place (previously on Main St. in Montpelier) before it closed almost two years ago. She attributes a lot of her kitchen ware knowledge to the owner of that store, Lori Miller.<br /> <br /> In the years since the closing of Mise En Place, Turner, who has a background in journalism, worked for Vermont Life Magazine. &quot;While I was there, I always thought about owning my own business&quot; she said.<br /> <br /> Earlier this year, Turner took the leap and contacted Community Capital to help her finance her plan. &quot;I don&#39;t have a lot of debt and I don&#39;t own a lot, so traditional financing wasn&#39;t right for me. But I had a good strategy for making this business a success, and Community Capital saw that. And they&#39;re not just about giving people the money to start their business, they&#39;re about helping you succeed.&quot;<br /> <br /> Turner plans to sell &quot;useful, everyday gadgets and kitchen goodies,&quot; including linens and serve ware, and merchandise from Emile Henry, OXO and KitchenAid. The store will also offer a wedding and gift registry. Turner will be in the store much of the time, but has hired one part-time employee who will start in the summer.<br /> <br /> For more information call 802-229-2305 or visit www.CapitalKitchenVT.com.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Capital Kitchen
<p><strong>Stephen Cleary<br /> eesa<br /> Waterbury, VT</strong><br /> <br /> After five years working for Burton Snowboards, Stephen Cleary realized there was a need for cool and fashionable boarding apparel. In 2003, after getting thoughts from a few pro snowboarders and sketching a design on a napkin at Mount Hood, Oregon, Cleary founded eesa with fellow snow-sports guru Fran Frost.<br /> The idea that came together for layering pieces that wouldn&rsquo;t look like underwear, and that a skier or rider could feel proud to display after peeling off a coat. Cleary and Frost called their concept &ldquo;lift-to-lounge,&rdquo; and they decided to base eesa in Waterbury.<br /> <br /> When it came time to finance their business plan, Cleary looked to Community Capital for assistance. &ldquo;As a startup we didn&rsquo;t have a track record, and Community Capital provided us with an opportunity for alternate financing. They helped us fund our first stages of growth, and our experience with them has been great.&rdquo;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

eesa
<p><strong> Ariane Ehtesham<br /> Young Rembrandts<br /> Jericho, VT</strong><br /> <br /> Young Rembrandt owner, Ariane Ehtesham, taught 4th grade at Underhill ID School in Jericho for 6 years. Although she loved teaching and thought she would make this her lifelong career, her job was not secure due to the shrinking enrollments in our rural schools. After being laid off (and then being asked to return!) a number of times, she finally decided she needed to find a more certain career path for herself and her family.<br /> <br /> Ariane knew about the Young Rembrandts drawing program because her daughter had been involved in it through her school. Young Rembrandts is a franchise and is known as &ldquo;the art program with a difference.&rdquo; According to the Young Rembrandts website (www.youngrembrandts.com), the program teaches drawing, the fundamental skill of all visual arts. Their step-by-step drawing method teaches children to break down complex objects into basic foundational shapes. As they learn how to draw, the experience, repetition and variety of engaging and relevant subject matter brings them to increased levels of mastery in drawing - and in life.<br /> <br /> When Ariane heard from a friend that the business was for sale, she and her husband George began looking into it. They began doing their homework. For Ariane, it was important that the business offer a product that was educationally valuable and one that she could feel proud of. For George the financial security and future potential of the business was important. Together they made the decision that the Young Rembrandts franchise was an excellent business for them to pursue.<br /> <br /> Unfortunately, the nature of the Young Rembrandts business is that there are very few &quot;hard&quot; assets and they had difficulty securing funding through traditional lenders. Just as they were about to give up, they stumbled upon Community Capital while investigating their local Huntington Community Revolving Fund (which Community Capital also operates). With Community Capital&#39;s more flexible lending policies, they were able to secure the financing needed to buy the business.<br /> <br /> Since July, there have been many challenges and many successes. The biggest success has been learning the day-to-day operations of the business and getting to know each account and its different needs. With Vermont&rsquo;s small schools, it is impossible (and not good business) to treat every account the same, and learning all of these subtle nuances has taken some time.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Young Rembrandts
<p><strong> Ariel Zevon<br /> LACE: Local Agricultural Community Exchange<br /> Barre, VT</strong><br /> <br /> Robin Chase, Community Capital Board Member, poses with Ariel Zevon at the LACE opening. Below is his report on the event. <br /> <br /> On Sunday, June 10, 2007, LACE (Local Agricultural Community Exchange) had its Grand Opening in the old Homer Fitts building on Main St. in Barre, VT. Huge crowds from throughout the Central Vermont community walked through their doors to the sound of live music and a wide array of agricultural products, fresh baked breads, soups, sandwiches, and a variety of caf&eacute; drink offerings.<br /> <br /> Conceived and implemented by Ariel Zevon and supported by several financial institutions including Community Capital of Vermont, LACE is promoting and supporting local agricultural businesses through product placement, a local farmer&#39;s market, and educational outreach programs.<br /> <br /> Given the initial response and interest from the community, LACE hopes to fulfill a need for a local Barre downtown grocery store and caf&eacute; while providing high quality food products from local farmers and educating the community on the value of consuming locally produced food and supporting the regional economy.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

LACE
<p><strong>Valerie and Richard Beaudet<br /> Firehouse at Barre<br /> Barre, VT</strong><br /> <br /> After submitting the winning proposal to the City of Barre, Valerie and Richard Beaudet used Community Capital dollars, along with a Community National Bank loan, to purchase the historic Barre firehouse. Renovations to this attractive downtown landmark are proceeding apace in anticipation of a late July opening. The Beaudets are drawing on their varied experiences in renovation, marketing, and management, combined with their enthusiasm for a remarkable building, to create a multi-faceted enterprise that will support the vitality of Barre&#39;s business environment. <br /> <br /> The Beaudets will move their popular floral business, Flowers by Emslie and Company, into the first floor. Gift items will be expanded, augmented by over twenty Vermont Handcrafters consignments through The Granite City Craft Gallery. The lush garden environment will provide the perfect backdrop for the Firehouse Roasting Company and Cafe, a cafe and coffee house slated to occupy a portion of the first floor. In addition, other businesses have already contracted to rent space on the second floor.<br /> <br /> Valerie and Richard&#39;s vision includes thoughtful attention to history, aesthetics, and community development. Valerie comments: &quot;My husband and I realized the potential in this abandoned building as a vehicle for expanding our flower shop and transforming it into something truly unique. By adding the coffee house and the craft gallery, along with the hair salon and professional offices upstairs, it is on its way to becoming a local gathering place. We will showcase this amazing historic building with firehouse memorabilia and photographs from Firehouses throughout the State, and plan to grow this into a popular tourist destination&quot;.<br /> <br /> Valerie adds that &quot;This &quot;dream come true&quot; would not have been possible without the support from Community Capital. They were more than willing to work with us to find a loan program that fit our needs. They understood our need to grow our business, as well as benefit the community of Barre City. Thank you again Community Capital for having faith in our vision.&quot;<br /> <br /> Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur courtesy of the Times- Argus - Thank you Jeb!</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Firehouse at Barre
<p><strong>Dawn Estes<br /> Gold Star Driving Company<br /> Barre, VT</strong><br /> <br /> Four years ago, Dawn Estes began the adventure of starting her own business. Despite a strong business plan, experience with driver&#39;s safety, and impending licensure as a driver safety instructor, Estes ran into an obstacle that many other new business owners face - not enough experience, sales history and collateral to leverage a bank loan. &quot;It was a long struggle of one step forward two steps back. I went to the bank to discuss financing. At that meeting, I was introduced to Community Capital. After this meeting, my hopes were renewed for Gold Star Driving School.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Today Gold Star Driving School would not be running successfully if it had not been for Community Capital,&quot; Estes reports. Community Capital saw the promise of Estes business; she was knowledgeable about her industry, identified a gap in the marketplace for her service, and presented a reasonable and well thought out plan for marketing her service. Weighing all of the factors, Community Capital was able to make the loan.<br /> &quot;Dreams can come true with the positive support of groups such as Community Capital and their teams of dedicated employees who believe in people such as myself.&quot; Good luck, Dawn! <br /> <br /> With Gold Star, may safety be your key to success!</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

Gold Star Driving Company
 
top