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Featured Stories:
Supranee Chanpradup
Belinda Xu
Nixon Nishimura
Belinda Xu
JJ Lee & Chris Lord
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Supranee Chanpradup
Thai House Express
2099 S. Atantic Blvd., #F
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Supranee Chanpradup, a Thai immigrant, initially came to TCDC to attend the multi-week Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) in 2004. Supranee had a dream of opening a restaurant but had no idea of how to start a business in the United States. The ETP provided her with the basics of business planning including operations, finance and marketing. After the ETP, she began searching for a location with her partners.
Supranee eventually found an existing restaurant in a small plaza in Monterey Park and attempted to open. After running into problems with obtaining the business license, Supranee returned to TCDC for business counseling assistance. TCDC’s Business Counselor worked with her to obtain the proper business license and permits. Thai House Express officially opened its doors for business in May 2005. Since then, the restaurant has flourished. Supranee has grown Thai House Express into a successful Thai restaurant and increased the workforce from 2 to 6 employees. It is so popular that her daily lunch crowd starts coming in before 11 a.m. and stays into the afternoon.
In 2007, Supranee and her partners decided to expand the business by adding a second location. Again, she turned to TCDC for business counseling. This time was for assistance with the lease agreement. TCDC’s Business Counselor worked with her by reviewing the lease agreement and negotiating with the landlord. Finally, she got an agreeable lease and began construction of the new restaurant. The second restaurant is scheduled to open in early-2008.
Thai Community Development Center (TCDC) is an Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program partner targeting the vibrant Thai business community in East Hollywood and throughout the L.A. area.
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Belinda Xu
Angela Preschool & Kindergarten
100 E. Live Oak Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91006
www.angelapreschool.com
Belinda Xu emigrated to the United States with a Bachelor Degree in Child Development. She started successful Xu Family Childcare Center in Alhambra and subsequently expanded to Temple City.
Belinda contacted API SBP’s partner, Chinatown Service Center Small Business Program in April 2004. She initially requested assistance for opening her first facility in obtaining the conditional use permit from the City of Arcadia but soon thereafter, also enrolled in the Entrepreneur Training Program (ETP) series. Thanks to Business Counselor coaching she prevailed at public hearings and obtained the conditional use permit. Subsequently, with coaching she solved signage issues, resolved parking issues, marketing and appeared on Chinese cable TV, etc. As a result of the ETP, Belinda realized that she would be in desperate need of working capital. Since she was inexperienced in commercial borrowing, our Business Counselor helped her package an SBA Express Loan of $40,000. She then obtained a $25,000 grant from First 5 LA for her project. Angela Preschool and Kindergarten, named after the owner’s daughter, opened in September 2004.
As business stabilized Belinda started looking for a second location. In Winter 2006, Belinda successfully leased a facility in Temple City. Since it is within the redevelopment project of the City, Belinda was awarded a $25,000 tenant improvement grant and was approved for a second SBA loan in the amount of $100,000.
The second location of Angela Preschool and Kindergarten with 99 childcare slots was opened in June 2007. The new center has reached 2/3 of its capacity already and the second loan is nearly paid off.
Belinda is surely on her way to success. Belinda is indeed a model entrepreneur; she is flexible, determined, intelligent, well-rounded, decidedly calculating. She has the added virtue of an open willingness to share her experiences with fellow ETP students.
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Nixon Nishimura
Acomes, Inc.
11040 Santa Monica Blvd., #310
Los Angeles, CA 90025
www.acomes.com
Mr. Nishimura, a native of Japan, came to the Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (API SBP) for assistance in loan packaging for expansion of his Los Angeles based business. His online retail store, sells English language learning tools and seasonal merchandise features overnight product shipment. 99% of his sales come from Asia, 93% from Japan. A Business Counselor from Little Tokyo Service Center, an API SBP partner, assisted Mr. Nishimura.
The Business Counselor approached the banks to gauge their interest, but they hesitated because of the difficulty of assessing an overseas market demand for retail products and skepticism of on-line businesses in general. Eventually, Hanmi Bank, which was familiar with the API SBP reputation for thorough client coaching, assigned Loan Officer Young Song to review this particular case. Mr. Song invested time in a site visit. Mr. Nishimura elaborated on his business operations and expansion plan through the translation help of the Business Counselor. Mr. Song reviewed the impressive accuracy of Nishimura’s previous revenue forecasts of sales growth, knowledge of consumer trends, and business operation structure. Mr. Song agreed to accept a loan package and take it to his loan committee.
The LTSC Business Counselor helped the client to gather and submit all the necessary paperwork to complete the loan application the following week. Within a few days, the client was approved for a $200,000 loan and received the funds the next day. With the infusion of this new working capital, the client is implementing his expansion plans including a larger inventory and quicker turnaround from receipt of order to shipping. LTSC’s Business Counselor works to help entrepreneurs like Mr. Nishimura improve their businesses and in doing so helps revitalize the local economy.
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JJ Lee & Chris Lord
Overtone Producations
805 Temple Terrace #312
Los Angeles, CA 90043
jjandchris@gmail.com
www.jjandchris.com
Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC)) is an Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program partner targeting the vibrant Korean business community in Koreatown and throughout the LA area. JJ and Chris enrolled in the Individual Development Account program with KYCC in August of 2004. From the very first time they met with the Business Counselor at KYCC, they had a dream of starting a music production company (stated in the bios on their website). Upon completion of their required savings and education trainings, they were able to secure some capital for equipping their home-based production studio with the help of the Business Counselor.
Overtone Productions started as a formal partnership in March of 2005. Overtone provides music for many purposes, including; music for – movies, television, commercials, corporate presentations, video games and other multi media.
Their recent production credits include original music for “Blind Ambition”, “Communication”, video games ”Orchida” and “Drop Cast”, a number of scores and theme music for television production. They have also received additional credits for such Hollywood hits as Ant Bully, Evan Almighty, Charlie Wilson’s War, and The Great Debator. They have been selected as top 10 semi-finalists in the 8th Annual Young Film Composers Competition, as well as awards from The Society of Composers and Lyricists Mentor Program, and the 5th Annual Game Audio Network Guild.
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