Erie FCU was approached by two women in business who were looking to create a new hair salon together, each coming from their own prospective skill sets. One of the women, was the owner and operator of her own salon, while the other woman was working for a well-established/competitor hair salon in Erie, PA. The challenge for these two women, was financing a new salon build-out within a leased location and little to no collateral to offer any lenders.
With this stress point, they had reached out to Erie FCU to see what products and services we offer and how this could benefit their new business venture. Upon meeting with the Commercial Lender, they were adviced to use Gannon’s SBDC for a business plan and cash flow projections, along with incorporating a market study on where to locate the business. Gannon’s consultants were able to work with them on completing these items and ultimately Erie FCU was able to grant them an unsecured term loan for $62,967 for the salon build-out and a unsecured line of credit for $17,000 for short-term working capital.
The salon opened in 2020, very successfully, and is still in operation as of 01/25/23.
CU Strategic Planning, a Callahan company, submitted this member impact story on behalf of the credit union.
