3 minute read
Encouraging Entrepreneurship
The ‘tea’ on Telluride’s new regional loan fund
BY SAGE MARSHALL
After spending significant time in Asia and running a tea business, Colin Hudon settled in Telluride and quickly noticed an opening among local gathering places for a tea room, so the clinical herbalist, acupuncturist and practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine started Mountain Gate Teahouse and Art Gallery.
Sadie Farrington says she knew there was strong interest in Telluride for sustainably and humanely raised local meats and founded Tomboy Butcher Shop, a full-service outlet based in Ilium.
Without loans from the Telluride Regional Loan Fund, neither of these new businesses would have had access to the financing needed for their businesses to thrive. Commercial banks typically only consider lending to companies with proven track records, which means they often won’t consider small businesses and startups without a certain number of years under their belts. The $2 million operating capital loan fund, a joint initiative of the Telluride Foundation and First Southwest Community Fund, with support from Zoma Foundation, launched in the summer of 2019 to address this gap.
Bonnie Watson manages the fund, which lends to most types of small businesses. Watson says she practices “character lending,” which means considering the grit and determination of the entrepreneurs seeking loans, as well as their business plans. This practice especially benefits businesses in rural communities in San Miguel County and the West End, including Norwood, Nucla and Naturita.
“We understand the challenges entrepreneurs are facing in rural Colorado and so our fund has to be flexible,” Watson says. “We are helping the individual who realizes the value of a bustling main street in the West End, but may not know how to get started when building and financing a small business like a brewery, bakery or property management firm.”
The fund offers attractive and attainable loans at or below market rate to keep its financing accessible to small business owners. It acts as a bridge loan to help business owners receive the financing they need, but more importantly the fund helps small business owners build a healthy working relationship with commercial banks that will be able to serve all their business needs down the road.
Watson, who comes to the fund from a career as a commercial and residential banker, spends a lot of time providing technical assistance to entrepreneurs. She’s not alone. Though there are no local business-oriented organizations, such as a chamber
of commerce, this doesn’t mean Telluride isn’t business-friendly.
“Reach out to the people around you,” Watson says to locals interested in starting or struggling to get their businesses off the ground. “That’s the beauty of the organic network in Telluride and the West End. Entrepreneurs and leaders in the community are willing to help each other.”
Looking ahead, Watson says she doesn’t have any specific funding goals for the loan fund besides deploying as much of the $2 million dollars of operating loan capital as possible by lending to regional small businesses and entrepreneurs whenever it can.
“Small businesses are such an integral piece to our rural ecosystems. Now, more than ever, technical assistance and flexible capital is a must for small businesses in rural Colorado. The Telluride Regional Loan Fund is here to provide that assistance to make sure we continue to support a thriving economy in the region.”
