After four different banks declined to lend a woman money to open up a day care center, she turned to a city agency for help.
Teshia Kyser has good credit, a detailed business plan and down-payment money, but was unable to get approved for a loan.
"It was very frustrating, very heartbreaking," she said.
Kyser, who has always dreamed of opening a day care, ran straight into the credit crunch caused by the banking crisis.
"Oops, you're a start-up business," Kyser said several loan officers told her. "We feel like this would be too great a risk for our institution right now."
But Kyser connected with the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center, a city agency that serves the needs of small business.
"A lot of people think this is a bad time to get in business because I'm not going to get financing," said Cheryl Jones, of the FWBAC. "Or it's a bad time to be in business because financing isn't out there. But financing is out there."
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The FWBAC connected Kyser with a lender that specializes in financing day cares.
"They understood everything that I had been going through," Kyser said.
Kyser received her loan, and she now plans to open Brilliant Child Daycare Center in Arlington later this summer.
"It can happen," Jones said.
For more information on the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center, visit its Web site: www.fwbac.com
