It’s been called Savannah’s best-kept business secret, something the Small Business Assistance Corporation would really like to change.
With offices at 111 E. Liberty St., the SBAC is a specialized, nonprofit business development organization licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The group is supported by the city of Savannah and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote economic growth.
Concentrating on small business with an emphasis on minority- and women-owned businesses, SBAC coordinates with lenders to offer 13 different loan products.
Partners also include the U.S. Department of Commerce, SCORE and the Small Business Development Center.
“We’d love to be more visible,” said SBAC president Tony O’Reilly, who came to Savannah in 1989 to help the city start the program. “We have a powerful service to offer, but we can’t help businesses if they don’t realize we’re here.”
To be sure, lots of business owners already know what the SBAC can do because they have been on the receiving end of that help.
Take Henry Prasetio, for example.
A native of Indonesia, Prasetio had been working in the food service industry here for years, much of that time managing a successful breakfast and lunch restaurant on Savannah’s islands.
“It has always been my dream to own my own restaurant,” Prasetio said. “I heard about SBAC about six years ago and decided to go talk to them. They looked at everything and said that, while they were confident in my management skills, they wanted me to be on more solid financial footing.
“I was working on my citizenship at the time, and my family was living in an apartment.”
When Prasetio returned to SBAC three years later, he was a proud U.S. citizen.
“We had also bought a house,” he said.
This time, his mentors at SBAC decided he was ready. They helped him develop his business plan, secure financing and move through the maze of permitting and regulations.
Henry’s Restaurant opened in August of 2011 on the corner of Drayton and Congress streets, serving breakfast and lunch to visitors and locals alike. In just two years, it has become a downtown fixture, earning good reviews for its food, service and pricing.
Prasetio still feels the need to pinch himself now and then.
“I still can’t believe they were willing to take a chance on me,” he says. “It has been the opportunity of a lifetime, and I will always be grateful to them from the bottom of my heart.”
From the beginning, Henry’s has been a family affair. Prasetio’s wife, Liem Hwee, does double duty as a cook and waitress. Their youngest child, a junior at Savannah Arts Academy, pitches in on weekends and after school, as her big brother and sister did before heading off to college.
Prasetio is proud to report that his oldest daughter is an anesthesia nurse at St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System while his son is in medical school at the University of West Virginia.
“I never imagined this could be my life,” he said. “I am truly living the American Dream.”
Working with Prasetio is the kind of calculated risk that can pay off for both the business and the community, said Stephen George, SBAC vice president in charge of lending and technical assistance, adding that the organization has an impressive list of successes.
“Some of the clients we have helped get started include Savannah Bee Co., the Gaslight Group of restaurants – including 5 Spot and Blowin’ Smoke BBQ – Tailsspin and Leocci’s,” he said.
And then there was perhaps their greatest success, a small startup called “The Bag Lady.”
“Needless to say, Paula Deen hasn’t needed our help in a very long time. But we sure are glad we were there when she did,” George said, adding that Jamie Deen just recently rotated off the SBAC board.
Last year alone, SBAC helped some 72 area businesses work toward their dreams, said Tom Butler, outgoing board chairman.
“We put in process, approved and funded loans totaling $15 million for projects totaling $37.6 million in our communities,” Butler said at the group’s recent luncheon, adding that those projects had created more than 800 jobs.
The loans went to startups and expansions, including urban, rural, minority, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses.
The U.S. Treasury Department also recently named SBAC a Community Development Financial Institution, a designation Butler said took two years to achieve. With that designation, the nonprofit can draw federal money as well as offer specialty tax credits to investors financing development projects in distressed areas.
“It allows us to bring these federal funds back to the community,” O’Reilly said, adding the SBAC partners with area banks to secure most of their loans.
“The banks are often more comfortable working with us because we can co-sign or guarantee the loans,” he said. “And we can offer up to a 90 percent guarantee through the city’s small business Community Development Block Grant program.”
The organization also has a for-profit arm in conjunction with the area’s four large banks – BB&T, SunTrust, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Known as the Savannah Regional Small Business Capital Fund, it manages about $1 million in funds available for loans.
Henry Prasetio doesn’t know about all the things the SBAC offers. He just knows he wouldn’t be where he is today without them.
“For me, they made the impossible possible,” he said.
Small Business Assistance Corporation
111 East Liberty Street, Suite 100, P. O. Box 10750
Savannah, GA 31412-0950
Voice: (912) 232-4700
Fax: 912-232-0385
Toll Free: 1-888-287-2137
E-mail: SBAC@SBACSAV.COM
Website: sbacsav.com
INTRO: As 2013 comes to a close, the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com continue the tradition of profiling companies and organizations that made major contributions to the local business environment in the past year.
The Business in Savannah staff chose the honorees from a list of nominees submitted by local business and community leaders, utilizing broad criteria – from growth and success to philanthropy and community involvement.
Today: SBAC — Business Advocate of the Year
Thursday: Retail Business of the Year
Friday: Business Education Partner of the Year
Saturday: Entrepreneurial Business of the Year
Sunday: Manufacturer of the Yea
Dec. 31: Small Business of the Year
Jan. 1: Newcomer of the Year