As of today, our loans to small businesses:
$15,056,801
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We’re proud to have had a role in helping so many small businesses throughout New Jersey to start, grow and thrive. While each client is unique, they all share some common characteristics: an unshakable belief in their business, a willingness to work as long and hard as it takes, and a relentless drive to stay competitive.
Read their stories and be inspired. And then contact us to see how we can help you.
Sometimes, the most important asset a business can have is hope.
Abdoul and Charlotte Diakite, the co-owners of A3 Contracting in Linden, NJ., had the skills, the drive, the work ethic and the experience to move their business to the next level. UCEDC, they say “gave us hope”.
In 2008, Tihuma Technology started with a microloan from UCEDC and the energy and enthusiasm of its three partners. In 2011, it obtained private financing to acquire another company and become iMedia. And this year, it’s achieved the holy grail for small businesses: a line of credit from a bank.
When Nick Inghilterra and Alison Plaskon graduated from college in 2008, times were hard for young people looking for work. Armed with degrees in advertising and public relations, they found the business world unwelcoming.
When times get tough, the tough get creative. Stacey Guggenheim started two creativity-based businesses with business coaching and microloan financing from UCEDC.
Christina King wasn’t looking for royal treatment when seeking physical therapy 10 years ago. Just some relief for her aching back. When she had trouble finding a hands-on physical therapist, she decided to open her own physical therapy practice. A microloan was the answer when her bank said no.
In 2009, Costa was working as a design manager for a West Orange building supply company. But her “passion” was to own her own business. It seemed a far-away goal until her mother-in law came home one day with an article about how a UCEDC microloan helped a Montclair housewife open her downtown candy shop, Dulce.
Lucy Pritzker’s childcare center had grown right out of its business plan. Clients of Just Babies Daycare, LLC were so happy there, they didn’t want to leave after babyhood.
With the help of UCEDC and its Line of Credit program, Pritzker tweaked her business plan and financed an expansion to accommodate older children.
Two guys, fresh out of college without full-time jobs, decide they want to build on their summer job experiences as ice-cream vendors and start their own Jersey shore ice cream operation. A microloan from UCEDC gave them the boost they needed.
A young man, armed with a degree in agricultural engineering and experience in corn flour production, leaves his home in Vera Cruz, Mexico and arrives in America looking for a better life. UCEDC helps make the dream a reality with a well-timed microloan.
When Bill Zengel bought his daughter a basic video camera for her eighth birthday, he had no idea that he was starting a business that would grow to become what he now calls "The Disney of Education." A microloan from UCEDC helped Black Rocket grow from its humble beginnings.
Christopher Dutka has been cooking since he was 14. His love of the kitchen came from watching as his grandmother transformed fresh food from her garden into legendary meals. He was captivated by what went on there.
Today, with help from UCEDC and its microloan program, Christopher’s Kitchen is captivating customers and budding chefs alike.
Little Ivy Learning Center needed $15,000 to expand a thriving preschool and child-care center built on nurturing young children and their families, but the reception at commercial banks was hardly warm and fuzzy. UCEDC came to the rescue with its micro loan program.
Two years ago, Edward Roberts realized that the growing misery of bed bug infestation was a great business opportunity. He saw a need for preparing rooms for bug eradication, and created a business, Prep Boyz, to fill it. Roberts had the cleaning knowledge and background from his experience as a superintendent in a housing complex in Newark.
Andrea Carbine was studying at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan; her husband Jim was an executive with a paper company. While working on a project for school – creating a plan for a small seasonally sustainable restaurant – they realized they just might have something.
While UCEDC has been offering entrepreneurial training for years, 2012 marked the first time its graduates were given the opportunity to win a cash award while showing off what they learned. Thanks to Capital One Bank, we launched the Annual Quick Pitch Business Competition in late 2012, where Joan Dickason, a certified holistic health coach and owner of Cross
Serial entrepreneur Mukesh Patel knows how to start a business, run a business, expand a business. So why did he attend UCEDC’s Entrepreneurial Training Initiative?
Charlie Mazzilli’s three kids were constantly outgrowing soccer cleats and softball bats, creating two issues: what to do with the old equipment, and how to afford replacements?
Start with tons of rotting food waste. Add a gazillion fly larvae. Wait one day. Then harvest biofuel and animal feed, while adding jobs to the community.
When Donna C. Schmidt, RN decided to become an entrepreneur in addition to her already busy career as a registered nurse, she knew all about colon hydrotherapy and ionic detox foot baths—the cornerstone of her new business. What she didn’t know was how best to market these services to potential clients of Cleansing Waters LLC in Westfield.
Getting his own business up and running was a slow and laborious process for Alberic Jean- Baptiste, owner of 24/7 Courier Services, based in Mountainside, NJ. His efforts were interrupted first by the terror attacks of 9/11 and then by his education.
UCEDC’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award is presented to a business owner demonstrating entrepreneurial spirit, the potential for long-term business success, the ability to overcome obstacles, a commitment to the community, and innovation and creativity. The 2010 winner couldn’t be a better fit: long-time UCEDC client, Suresh Kapoor, LC Engineers, Rahway, NJ.
Searching for government contracts that could boost revenue is important, but it takes one of the most precious resources a business owner has: time.
UCEDC’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) prides itself on going the extra mile to help small businesses win government contracts. For Solar Compounds Corp. of Linden, the path doesn’t matter so much as the end result.
Jamie Chaves, owner of Xocolatz Café in Westfield, is living his dream thanks to hard work, mad cooking skills, and a microloan from UCEDC.
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