Keyonna Trevathan founded KBC Kidz, a children’s entertainment business that hosts and organizes birthday parties and events, in 2013 in Youngstown, OH.
After her first 5 years in business, Keyonna needed to purchase new equipment for the parties she organized and was referred to HFLA by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC). At that time, HFLA was the only lender that Keyonna had available since she was still a new and growing business and did not have a high enough credit score to qualify for conventional loans. Fortunately, HFLA’s interest-free business loan enabled Keyonna to purchase the equipment she needed for her business to and improve her credit score. HFLA approved Keyonna’s business loan and she received a $10,000 interest-free loan in Summer, 2018.
During 2020, Keyonna had once again reached a point where she required more equipment. For her business, the equipment includes bounce houses, costumes, or other party playthings for young children’s’ parties that can be expensive, but are necessary when running a unique business like this.
When Keyonna asked her bank where she would be able to find the level of funding she required, they referred her to Huntington. Huntington bank approved Keyonna’s business loan for $100,000.
Keyonna states, “I never expected to get approved for that amount. I have a great business credit score and HFLA helped me with that.”
Keyonna’s story shows how important the work of HFLA is. We are there to provide the funding for our loan recipients to address specific needs and help business owners expand their small businesses. However, the long-term goal of HFLA is to see our loan recipients grow beyond of the need for our products and be able to qualify for traditional lending products through increased financial confidence and improved credit score and credit history.
We are so proud to have been able to be a part of Keyonna’s journey and we look forward to seeing her business thrive.