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Cubit Wire Raul Hernandez: “WMEF has helped our minority-owned wire and cable business with the additional capital needed for growth”. In 2006, Mr. Hernandez came to WMEF with a loan request of $200,000 to be used for permanent working capital in support of growing sales for his booming manufacturing business. The WMEF loan allowed Mr. Hernandez to triple the number of employees, boost revenue, and grow his company. Raul Hernandez purchased the assets of a former wire manufacturing company in January 2004 after the company had effectively discontinued operations for a few months. He changed the name to Cubit Wire & Cable and with 25 years of industry expertise brought the company back to life. Cubit Wire & Cable is a manufacturer of insulated wire and cable used in audio, broadcast, communication, signaling, circuit control, and harness applications. The company had reached historic sales volume in the mid-90s averaging between $15MM and $20MM a year. Their success came from customer concentrations with high volume, low margin business. Volume steadily decreased in the late 90s and early 2000s as larger wire and cable manufacturers and competition from Asian sources were able to steal business from American manufacturers based on pricing and excess capacity. The company’s weak capital structure limited its ability to invest in state of the art equipment that would enable the company to effectively compete with larger, high volume wire manufacturers. This resulted in many customers dissolving their business relationship considering the company as unreliable and unstable. By the end of 2003 the company had lost all but 12 customers. After purchasing the company, Mr. Hernandez started to cultivate these remaining relationships and re-established previous business relationships and by 2006 had built the customer base back up to 80 active customers. Mr. Hernandez defined a market niche so Cubit focused on low volume, specialty wire designed to meet specifications of the customer such as: ambulance track lights, railroad track lights, industrial AC, aircraft instruments, and pool vacuums. Lhasa Café Thondup & Dolma Tsering: “Without WMEF, I would not have been able to start this business, or remain in business, thank you.” Thondup and Dolma Tsering were granted asylum from their native Tibet in 2001 and have become a vital component of the growing Tibetan population in Northampton and western Massachsuetts. Ten years ago as former refugees, these two business owners never could have imagined reaching success and fulfilling their dreams by opening their own restaurant. In 2004, a loan from WMEF helped them actualize their dream of opening an authentic Tibetan restaurant to serve the greater Northampton community and to share their culture with the community at large. Northampton has a rich fabric of dining establishments which strengthen the community by serving as hubs of cultural exchange. The Lhasa Café with its prominent storefront on Main Street has become an integral part of the fabric of this community. Thondup and Dolma Tsering obtained a bank loan but needed additional funds in order to open and run their restaurant. As an alternative lender, WMEF was able to fill the financing need for this start-up microenterprise. Media Education Foundation
Sut Jhally, Executive Director WMEF provided the final permanent financing needed by the Media Education Foundation, a locally based national nonprofit, thus supporting its growth through the purchase, renovation and occupancy of a previously vacant firehouse on Masonic Street in Northampton. This agency was founded in 1991 and has become a leading producer of educational resources that foster critical thinking and social change. These programs are viewed around the world by university, college and high school students as well as educators, community organizations, parents, professionals, libraries and government agencies. The loans from WMEF have contributed to Media Education Foundation’s tremendous community impact. These loans allowed for renovation of a vacant firehouse building in a prominent location in downtown Northampton, part of which houses a popular café. In addition, the Media Education Foundation runs a successful internship program reaching more than 30 interns annually by providing hands-on training and skill-building opportunities. The agency has made the building fully handicapped accessible with ramps, elevators, and restrooms and has developed an affordable community meeting space and an in-house screening room available to the community at modest rental rates. The renovation has tastefully preserved the character of the downtown facility. Simply Divine Beauty Lounge Kelly Holbrook: “After being in the cosmetology business for 14 years, it has been a dream for me to own and operate my own salon. The funding from WMEF has been a blessing to me and has made my dream into a reality.” After working in other salons for twelve years, from apprentice to chair renter to salon manager, Kelly Holbrook decided it was time to fulfill her dream of starting her own business. Kelly contacted the New England Black Chamber of Commerce who helped her put together her business plan. They also put her in touch with a special grant program in Springfield to open businesses in designated blighted areas. Having gotten $5,000 for the "vacant storefront" grant from the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce for Greater Springfield, Kelly came to WMEF for a $50,000 to renovate a large space and start Simply Divine Beauty Lounge. After five months of construction, pulling up floors, replacing walls and ceilings, and fitting out the space to her specifications, Kelly opened for business in May 2008. She rents out two chairs in her salon and is training an assistant. In addition to hair, Kelly also offers manicure/pedicure, esthetician services, and massage therapy through licensed practitioners who rent space from her. Kelly is a great example of an entrepreneur who by realizing her own vision is bringing other entrepreneurs along with her by giving them a place to build their businesses. Sign-GrafX Group LLC
January, 1997: $12,000
Derrick Mason: “The wide-format printer which we purchased with help from WMEF has simplified 75% of our production. It has lowered our costs of labor and materials by at least 50%, and sped up our projects substantially. We are now out-sourcing less work, we are able to enter new markets and provide better service to our large and varied customer base. Clients who have seen their new prints and signs coming off this system are awed by the quality and special effects we produce for them.” Sign-GrafX Group LLC is a 20~year old sign company based in Easthampton MA. Derrick Mason purchased the business in 1993 and has operated it since then. Its services include signage consulting, design, manufacture, installation and repair. The sign industry, including Sign-GrafX, faces changing market demands, new technological developments, labor force and training issues, and competition from companies with advanced equipment. While embracing innovations, Sign-GrafX has been conservative about investing in a new equipment, materials and methods. But at the same time, it wants to offer updated products to its customers. When new types of signs become available and are proven reliable, Sign GrafX outsources production until purchase of the new machinery and in-house fabrication is clearly cost-effective and practical. This is the situation Derrick Mason faced with the increased sales of digitally- produced signs: Sign GrafX' annual sales of digitally-imaged and printed signs grew from $0 in 1995 to approx. $10,000 in 2007, with at least $20,000 projected in 2008. Sign GrafX approached WMEF for financing to purchase a printing-plotting-laminating production system, to eliminate a growing, unreliable and expensive outsourced supply of sign materials, and substantially reduce production labor costs. This new equipment immediately increased their profitability, quality of services and products, and market share. And it was significantly more environmentally friendly, greatly eliminating the use of vinyl in sign production. |
