Ana Gonzalez and Veronica Ramos, sisters, are 50/50 members of A&V Enterprises, LLC. In addition, Ana owns Enchanted Bakery and Veronica owns Blossom Beauty, a hair and nail salon.
A&V Enterprises owns a building with three retail bays—one for each business and another space they rent out. The parking lot, which covers a quarter of a city block, was in desperate need of improvement. When they received any substantial rain, the building was nearly an island in a large pool of water, and on dry days, delivery trucks carefully navigated their way through potholes. The Center for Rural Affairs assisted Ana and Veronica in refinancing their property for $147,721.07, which allowed for improvements and positively affected their monthly cash flow. The Center funded $100,000 of the loan with Business Innovation Act funds, with the rest from Community Development Financial Institution loan funds.
