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MBFC Summer 2009 Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
MBFC Fall 2008 Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
MBFC Summer 2008 Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
MBFC Spring 2008 Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
MBFC Fall 2007 Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
MBFC Spring 2007 Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
Minnesota Business Finance Corporation Sends Professionals to School
MBFC Fall Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
Steven C. Preston Sworn In As Administrator of SBA
MBFC Summer Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
MBFC Spring Newsletter – In Your Best Interest
MBFC CEO Named SBA Financial Services Champion
MBFC Generates Record Amount of SBA 504 loans
$250,000 MBFC Grant Boosts Lakes Area Businesses
Dance Pioneers Win SBA Entrepreneurial Success Award
MINNEAPOLIS – Cindy and Stephen Clough, a husband-and-wife team who developed their firm from the basement of their home into one of the largest precision dance instruction companies in the country, were named winners of the Entrepreneurial Success Award for Minnesota by the Minnesota office of the United States Small Business Administration (SBA).
“I never imagined through all these years that I would be a candidate, let alone win, such an honor,” said Cindy Clough, cofounder and president of Baxter-based Just For Kix (JFK). “I am blessed to be doing what I love and to be working with so many committed dance students, instructors and supporters in our communities. Steve and I have worked together every step of the way to drive Just For Kix forward.”
The Cloughs received the award for owning and running a business that started small but grew large due to the help of the SBA. When the Cloughs took out a low-interest, fixed-rate SBA 504 loan for small firms in 1997, JFK employed only 34 people. JFK now offers precision dance team programs for 18,000 elementary, middle school, junior high and high school students in more than 150 communities in eight Midwestern states and employs 550 people.
“It has been remarkable watching JFK grow from a small, family operation into one of the largest employers in our community,” said Greg Bergman, regional director for Brainerd’s Central Lakes College Small Business Development Center, one of nine small business development centers helping businesses apply for SBA 504 loans in the state. Bergman and Alex Blum, president and CEO of Minnesota Business Finance Corporation (MBFC), the company that originated JFK’s SBA 504 loan, nominated the Cloughs for the award.
“Just For Kix has experienced tremendous growth,” said Blum. “Cindy and Steve pioneered the development of dance instruction in a franchise-like operation that enabled them to introduce organized dance to 150 communities while training and employing hundreds of professional instructors.”
The Cloughs launched JFK in 1981. Steve runs the financial side of the business. Cindy is the creative force of the company, responsible for developing everything relating to dance (instruction programs, choreography, music arrangement, special events and training instructors). JFK also conducts summer dance, drill and pom camps in eight Midwestern states and dance performances for special events such as the Outback Bowl.
The Cloughs will be honored at an SBA awards ceremony on May 5.
SBA 504 loans are intended for firms requiring funds for purchasing fixed assets such as land, buildings, and machinery and equipment. Job creation and retention are key qualifying criteria for companies seeking SBA 504 loans. Through SBA 504 loans it has originated since 1983, MBFC has created a total of 11,748 jobs and retained 5,420 jobs (that would have been lost had the SBA 504 loans not reached small businesses) in Minnesota.
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Minnesota Business Finance Corporation is a certified development company authorized by the SBA to originate SBA 504 loans. The SBA 504 loan program is economic development financing specifically designed to stimulate private-sector investment in long-term, fixed assets to increase productivity, create new jobs and increase the local tax base. For more information, visit www.mbfc.org.
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