Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to k MET fourteen ninety AM ABC News Radio
in the Southern California Business Report with Evett Walker, a
show dedicated to highlighting successful Southern California businesses and the
people behind them.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome and thank you for joining Southern California Business Report
on ABC News and talks k ET fourteen ninety AM,
ninety eight point one FM and km ET TV. I'm
Evet Walker live blasting our signal from the center of
Southern California, serving a population of over twenty five million.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Get us crystal.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Clear and on demand by downloading the free live streaming
app on Google Play and the Apple App Store. As always,
a tremendous shout out to the team Mitch, Bill and
Sean I love you guys, and to our special advisory
committee that can be found at www dot scbr talk
dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Forward Slash Advisory Committee Click on the link and.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Learn about the incredible leaders doing the work and is
always dedicated to showcasing and creditable leaders. I am thrilled
to introduce Miss Hilda Kennedy, who is a visionary leader
dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and transforming communities through equitable access
to capital As a founder and president of AMPAC Business Capital,
(01:20):
she has built the nation's faith based, mission driven SBA
lending group, the first faith based, mission driven SBA lended
group rooted in faith integrity and a relentless commitment to
small business success. Raised in south central Los Angeles, Hilda
understands the barrier's many face in building generational wealth. Her
(01:42):
early career and economic development revealed the systemic challenges that
minority and women entrepreneurs encounter when seeking funding. This insight
inspired her to launch AMPAK in two thousand and five
with a mission to finance and foster business success at
all stone ages of growth. Under her leadership, AMPAC became
(02:03):
the first faith based SBA five oh four lender in
the country, deploying over two billion dollars in capital and
supporting the creation of thousands of jobs across California. Hill
Does approach blends a business acumen with compassion. Through initiatives
like the It Is Possible down Payment Assistant program and
(02:26):
the Entrepreneur Ecosystem Resource Center, she ensures that underserved and
first generation entrepreneurs receive not just funding, but also the
tools and support to thrive. Her work has earned national
recognition including being named NABO California's Woman Business of the
Year the Mary Anne Fox Top Female Entrepreneur Award for
(02:50):
twenty twenty four. Kennedy serves on the board of NADCO
Adelphi Credit Union, CAMEO, AAACNFI Ali Acience is as president
of NAVO California and Inland Empire Chapters, and is an
Executive Fellow for the University of California School of Business.
(03:11):
Beyond Business, Hilda is a devoted wife, mother of four,
Bible study teacher, and community mentor. Her journey is rooted
in faith and a deep belief that every entrepreneur, regardless
of background, deserves a chance to succeed.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Hilda, Thank you so much. I'm so honored, and thank
you very much for detailed recognition in that introduction.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Wow, well that's all I can say when I get
to talk to you and I learn about all of
the remarkable work that you have done and continue to do.
In addition to that, this year and recently celebrating twenty
years serving the community, Hilda tell us about what it
means to celebrate twenty year and being surrounded by the
(04:02):
community that absolutely loves you.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Oh well, thank you so much. Well, two decades is
a long time, and I shared at our twentieth anniversary
in the book of Chronicles, it described how Solomon, after
two decades twenty years, finished the Temple, and yet his
(04:25):
work was still to be done. And that's really how
we feel. We've had some good accomplishments in the last
twenty years, and you talked about it, over two billion
dollars in lending for small businesses. But the work is
ongoing because the needs are great and entrepreneurship is so
vital to the growth of our economy across the nation.
(04:50):
And so what we say is the best is yet
to come.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Absolutely, the best is yet to come.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
And I really want to dive into your early inspiration
because as.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
A mother, as a.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Woman, as someone that is business minded and sees the
opportunities that exist to empower others, tell us about that
early journey and what prompted you to start AMPAC to begin.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
With, Yeah, thank you so much for the question. Reflecting
on their early journey is so sobering and no one
does anything alone. You need people. And so while I
was serving as economic development director in a local government,
(05:35):
I loved what I did. I served in a community
that was considered underserved.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
And.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
We would have people. I would have people coming in
my office all the time, passing up banks and saying, hey,
is there something new the city can do to help me?
Are their grant funds? The bank turned me down again,
And what I came to realize is that these businesses
(06:05):
were not necessarily unbankable, but they needed to be coached
and supported to become bankable. And what they needed was
a hand up in order to do that. Not a handout,
but a hand up. And what that meant for us is,
let's look at some alternative underwriting guidelines so that we
(06:28):
could help the businesses in our community. And so I
loved what I did their business assistance, business attraction, and
business retention. But you said it earlier, I'm a mother.
In fact, I'm a mother afore, and I was commuting
from the Inland Empire to Inglewood every day. We didn't
(06:51):
have remote work days during that time, and so what
I was doing is missing my child's lives. And it
became very clear to me on a volunteer in the
classroom day with my older son, and on that day
(07:13):
I ran home and wrote my resignation and said I
can't sacrifice this anymore and I don't want to live
with that. And so that was my inspiration for leaving
and saying I've got to do something different. And a
(07:33):
dear friend who worked with me as a consultant said
why don't you start euro And he's no longer with us,
but he certainly saw something believed in me more than
I believed in myself. But I was willing to go
for it. And that was the start of the AMPAC
(07:55):
and its history.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
That's such a beautiful story and I believe it's a
test meant to being a woman, a vision and you know,
working hard. But Hilda, what would you say to women
that are maybe starting their career starting a business and
you know the common theme that we hear as well.
If you go into business or you start a profession,
(08:18):
you can do that, but you will sacrifice one thing
or the other, like you mentioned, you know, raising a children.
Maybe you don't want to start a family. But what
advice do you have to women that want it all right?
They want to do the family, they want to start
a business, they want to serve their communities.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Is this something that.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Is actually viable and can be successful or is it
a one in a million chance.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Yeah. I am around some incredible women who have done both,
and I call it integration. Some people look for balance.
I don't know what balance looks like, but I know
what integration looks like. And in my start, my children
(09:01):
came to the office, they did homework in the office,
and then when they were done with homework, they helped
me do filing, They did some organization around the office,
cleaned off my desk. It was integration for me. And
so I would say to a woman, don't have unrealistic expectations.
(09:23):
Expect that it is going to be a challenge. You're
going to have some crying days. I mean, I started unpack.
I wanted to get off the freeway. And I missed
the first field trip when I left because I had
meetings starting the business. My heart was broken, absolutely broken.
(09:46):
But I made a lot of field trips. And now
that my children are in their twenties, they still love
me and they tell me they're proud of me. So
that means the most to me. Again, it's not easy,
and it's not for the faint at heart. You and
your partner or your spouse, you've got to make that
(10:08):
decision for your family and then go for it.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
That is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
And you know, something that stands out to me, of course,
and to everybody that hears this is the fact that
AMPAC is the first faith based CDFI and SBA lenders.
So tell us about that process and how that makes
you different from the rest of the lenders, that first
ever in the nation, which is remarkable. Congratulations for that,
(10:38):
Thank you for that.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
You know, it really goes down to our core values.
When we started AMPAC, President Bush was in office at
the time and he had released an executive order to
all departments about engaging the faith based community and solving
some of the challenges of government, and that resonated with me,
(11:04):
as the wife of a pastor and very active in
my faith based community, that this is something we could
get our arms around. We wanted to serve small businesses,
small businesses who were not always able to access credit easily,
and we wanted to serve small businesses who were so
(11:27):
busy doing the grind that they never even looked up
and thought about SBA. And in underserved communities, especially black
and brown community, faith plays such a crucial role in
those communities and they're where people feel that there's trust there.
And so when you're talking about finances, being able to
(11:51):
go in those communities and talk to those small businesses
about the possibilities, the significant and so when we wrote
our application with that component into the US Small Business Administration,
there were a few questions. I mean, there were questions
about h I don't know, it's just a separation. Should
(12:13):
we be concerned about the separation of church and state?
And my response to the SBA was, have you ever
been to one of your awards programs and have you
ever heard of business in those award programs and probably
many giving honor to their God for helping them in
their business, Then why not market and be in front
(12:34):
of the very community that they're thinking for helping them
to get access to growing their business. And the SBA
is often part of that story. And that response really
helped the people understand we're not violating church and state.
We're simply saying businesses who are involved in the faith
(12:57):
based community need to know about SBA and we want
to be really intentional about sharing it. And so that
came the birth from our Pastor's Advisory Committee of our
Connecting Faith in Business summits.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I absolutely love it, and you had one recently not
too long ago. You conduct various events that are aimed
at reaching out to the community. Tell us a little
bit about the Connecting Faith with Business event and what
the strategy and goals were behind presenting information and tangible
takeaways for your guests.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah, thank you very much. Well. First of all, we
had the honor of having Evatte Walker as our MC
in our sixteenth annual Connecting Faith in Business Summit that
brought almost three hundred businesses and faith based leaders together.
And one of the biggest takeaways we always hear from
the people is I just didn't know I could talk
(13:58):
about publicly faith in my business, and from my vantage point,
why can't you? That's an integral part of who you are.
And at the Connecting Faith in Business Summit, we have
a panel business leaders, very successful business leaders, talking about
(14:20):
how their business, how their faith that drives their business,
and how it informs them when they have to make
a tough HR call, even if that means a separation,
when they lose a contract and that contract is not
coming back. And in one of our conferences, one of
(14:42):
the speakers, an engineering company, said that God told them
to pray for their competitors, and they did and they
got they got business, and they got even more business.
It is the bold move of faith to rive business
and business decisions. How you treat employees, how you treat customers,
(15:06):
how you treat vendors, how you treat your bankers, the
integrity and ethics in which you operate in your business,
and being okay with saying it is because my faith
drives me that I operate like this. And it's all
so scary because people are going to hold you to
a higher standard. That means that when you want it
(15:29):
to go off, you probably should refrain from going off
because they're going to say I got you had faith.
So it's a double ed sword, but I'm willing to
take the risk because my faith is my core value. Right.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Well, he flipped tables in the temple, right.
Speaker 6 (15:50):
Absolutely, yes too, yeah, so right there we go, everybody.
So even if you're faith based, there's still times when
times you just have to flip a table or two.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
That's right, that's right, We're good.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
When you're identifying the needs of your community, how do
you assess the needs of small businesses in the community.
When Ampak was first launched.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Yeah, you know what, even we did a lot of
conversations and round tables just talking to the businesses. I
remember one where I was talking to a group of
pastors and talking about what do you do when the
business owner in your congregation clops down in your office
(16:39):
and say it's you know what, I don't know if
I'm going to make it in business? What do you
point them to? How do you help them? And that
business owner talked, I mean that pastor talked about the
landscaper in his congregation. He said, he doesn't speak a
lot of English. Are you going to help him to
fill out the paperwork he may need that level of
(17:02):
hand holding. Are you going to tell him exactly how
the loan works? Are you going to make sure that
he understands all the nuances of the loan so that
he's not signing away everything he owns and his dog
and his cat? I mean, are you going to do
that for him? And that's how we developed our tagline,
(17:25):
We'll walk with you hand in hand throughout the process.
For the person who has a CPA and is very
well versed on their financials, and for the person who
doesn't even know what a CPA is and barely has
a bookkeeper. We're going to walk with you hand in
hand throughout the process too, and it doesn't matter how
big or how small the loan is. Our goal is
(17:48):
to help that person get access to the resources they
need so that that business can grow and thrive.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Absolutely an IMPAC does that beautifully.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
In addition to its life it also has additional programs,
but we'll talk about that later. So for now, Hilda,
tell us about the different types of lending and funding
types and products that AMPAC offers two small businesses that
cater to various needs, right from those that are well
established have their CPAs and lawyers in pocket, to those
(18:21):
that are just brand new stepping into the landscape of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Thank you EVEV for the question, And you know that's
exactly it's our loan products today. It's they were informed
by that focus group called the Connecting Faith in Business
Summit when AMPAC started. Our focus, when we became a
partner of the SBA and got certified, our focus was
(18:48):
helping businesses to buy the commercial real estate for their business,
which helps them create stability in terms of their cost
which helps them to be able to plan their cost
over time and make sure that their business is going
to be there and they're not going to be vacated
because a landlord sells the building from under them, and
(19:12):
to fix their cost with this resource so that they
don't have to worry about interest rate fluctuations. So that's
what the SBA five o four program does. In our
Connecting Faith in Business summit, our businesses said, you know what,
we need other products as well, and so what they
shared with us is we need businesses. We need help
(19:35):
for businesses that are starting out. So we changed our
tagline and our mission to say we finance and foster
business success from crado to legacy. So from the small
business that's just getting started or even pre revenue, we
have an SBA micro loan that serves that business. For
(19:58):
the business that's scaling, we have the AMPAC Direct Loan
and the AMPACK Community Advantage loan helping businesses with working
capital up to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And
for that business that's buying their building they're ready to
stabilize their costs and really create generational wealth, we can
(20:19):
help them with the SBA five or four product by
their building and those loans can go up to over
thirty million dollars with the SBA being a public private partnership,
so the bank does a portion, SBA does a portion
up to five million, or if it's a manufacturer, up
to five and a half million dollars. Those products really
(20:42):
serve the business holistically, from cradle to legacy.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
That is a phenomenal that you're able to pool these
resources together for the benefit of the business community. So
tell us about the benefits that these lending options give
to your clients compared to traditional lending tools and products.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
Yeah, thank you so much for that question. You know,
oftentimes when people are looking at the SBA product, it's
a credit enhancement. The bank may want to do the transaction,
but they can't because it falls outside of their credit box.
But if they have the support of the SPA, then
(21:32):
they're more likely to do the loan. Although for most banks,
the small dollar loans under three hundred and fifty thousand
dollars they were just tougher for them to do when
they think about the return on investment and the amount
of handholding it requires for those small businesses. So that's
(21:52):
why we get support from banks so that we can
serve those businesses that they aren't able to serve those products.
The SBA Micro Loan for businesses pre revenue to existing
businesses up to fifty thousand dollars provides a fixed rate
interest rate and a loan term of seven years. That's
(22:15):
significant because if you go to a traditional bank and
you're trying to get a small working capital loan, they
may invite you to get a credit card, or they
may invite you to a term loan for five years.
What that means is your monthly payment is going to
be higher, and so the longer term helps you to
(22:36):
manage your payments over time, and it doesn't provide a
pre payment penalty, so it's beneficial to the business. For
the Community Advantage loan up to three hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, that term is ten years. Again, you're thinking
about your monthly payments and reducing your monthly payments so
(22:56):
that you can have the resources to make sure that
you can serve a contract, or add another employee, or
innovate in the business to look for new products. That's
really significant about the Community Advantage product and our signature product.
The SBA five or four program five or four loan
(23:18):
where you it's a public private partnership. Up to fifty
percent of the loan or more comes from the bank.
Up to forty percent comes from SBA that we manage
an administer, and then the barwer ten percent down. Why
is that significant? Eve? It's significant because if someone was
(23:39):
going to buy their buy a building for their business,
typically they would have to use thirty to thirty five
percent down in terms of a down payment. This product
is only ten percent down. Why is that significant? It's
because if I'm putting more down, then it's impeding my
(24:01):
ability to open up new markets or add new employees. Again,
so the product is sensitive to that. And it's a
fixed interest rate. And again that allows a business to
plan their cost over time. So this blended rate is
really significant for business seeking to grow.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
That is remarkable, Hilda. I love those products.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
But we are coming up on a break right now.
Everybody listening. Evett Walker with ABC News and Talks Southern
California Business Report here today with Hilda Kennedy, founder and
President of AMPAC Business Capital, who has dedicated her career
to empowering underserved communities through access to capital and resources
by championing inclusive financial practices. She has transformed the landscape
(24:46):
for countless entrepreneurs, enabling them to realize their dreams, cultivate hope, resilience,
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Speaker 3 (28:16):
Good one, All right, Welcome back everyone.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Evett Walker with ABC News and Talks Southern California Business
Report here today with Hilda Kennedy, founder and President of
AMPAC Business Capital, who has dedicated her career to empowering
underserved communities through access to capital and resources. By championing
inclusive financial practices, she has transformed the landscape for countless entrepreneurs,
(28:42):
enabling them to realize their dreams, cultivate hope, resilience, and
the opportunity for future generations. Thank you so much for
being with us today, Hilda.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
Thank you so much, my honor, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
My honor, Hilda.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
So prior to the break we talked about tax origins,
what inspired you to pursue this now twenty year career
in lending with over two billion dollars of funding that
you have made available to entrepreneurs who otherwise may not
have received it, and just absolutely thrilled to have you
(29:19):
and talk about all of the incredible things that you
and AMPAC do together to serve our communities and build
our economic landscape. So prior to the break, you went
into some of the different funding products that AMPAC has
and which are phenomenal. And of those products, which would
you say is the most popular?
Speaker 4 (29:41):
You know it popularity. That's a good question. Actually, all
of them are popular depending on the need of the
business at the time. And I think what we've tried
to build is a holistic cradle to legacy approach to
serving small businessesses as a nonprofit, mission based lender coming
(30:05):
alongside banks to provide products that they would otherwise not do,
but they believe in the business owner and want to
make sure that they get served.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
And so in addition to these tremendous funding resources and
partnerships you have with SBA, local banks and other lenders,
what other supportive services does AMPAC offer to its local businesses.
And I know one of the big things that AMPAC
is so dedicated to acknowledging is this ecosystem of business
(30:39):
building and community building. Tell us about what the ecosystem
within AMPAC to serve businesses that you fund or that
are looking to be funded.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
What does that look like?
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Thank you for the question. So we like to say
the entrepreneur ecosystem is access to community, us to coaching,
and access to capital. And we do that in partnership
with others. But we offer a leap to launch entrepreneur
Incubator program that is a twelve to eighteen month program
(31:15):
where entrepreneurs come together in a cohort to learn together.
They're learning how to build good financial record keeping. They're
learning how to document their vision and their mission and
their core values. They're learning how to create accountability systems.
They're learning how to build the foundational components of a
(31:38):
business so that they can scale. You know, business owners
are really great in the craft that they do. I'm
a great baker, but baking is not enough for business.
You got to have some business financial acumen and that's
what the Incubator program does. And we have a partnership
with the City of Ontario to host a specific program
(32:02):
for Ontario based businesses, and those incubator programs are tremendous
and we've gotten such great feedback. On an ongoing basis,
we have a banker who is part of our team,
or I should say a retired banker who's part of
our team, who hosts a call weekly for business owners
(32:25):
to ask whatever questions they have on how to scale,
how to look at their financials, how to better understand
their balance sheet, how to tweak something in their financials
to ensure that they are bankable, how to put together
projections to help the business grow. And then we have
(32:48):
a mobile app that is a twenty four to seven
pocket resource for businesses is what we call it. It
is available on Android or iPhone that you can there's
no cost, but it is rich with information to help
a business to scale. And we like to say at
(33:08):
the time business owners operate, that might be two in
the morning, that maybe midnight. You know, it's not the
traditional times that a bank is open or even that
our offices are open, but we do want to make
sure that those business owners are getting real time information
to help them to scale. When we added an AI
(33:30):
component on the mobile app that we pay for to
make sure that businesses can do some research on their
businesses that can help them to scale as well. They
can use the chatbot. It's been curated with information about
a number of SBA and other local resources, but it
(33:51):
also allows them to use a trusted chatbot to help
them to research and get information to help them to
innovate and create new products or get an understanding of
something that they're working on.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
That is so exciting talking about innovating. You're leading the
charge of innovation through this tremendous tool, implementing AI and
all the countless resources that any business owner, as you mentioned,
at any hour of the day could have access to.
I absolutely love it and that's why I have it
on my phone too.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
I love your app, so thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
So with that said, Hilda, you must have so many
success stories, but please share one that really stands out
to you that has thrived as with the help of
Ampax financial support.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Oh gosh, I have so many. The one that stood
out that I wanted to share in this conversation is
a veteran owned business that we served who served our
United States Navy. He as a youngster, had had a
few infractions in the neighborhood that he grew up with
(35:05):
the law and going through the process. There are questions
that you answer on an application. On the application, and
he had to answer yes to some of those questions
because of his teenage past. It was tough for him.
He was embarrassed about it because he was so far
(35:27):
removed from it. But he was so diligent about answering
the question and getting us the information that we needed
so that he could proceed with the application. He was
serving such a significant need in his community because he
(35:49):
was he's a barber and he did barbering in the
Navy and decided he was going to start a barber
college and in that barber college help young people who
could go one way or another. And with government resources
to try and get these young people educated, he decided
(36:11):
to implement or start this barber college. And he had
such great traction with the barber college, so much traction
that he was busting at the seams of his building.
He just grew out of that building and he wanted
to buy another building. He could buy the building, but
(36:33):
he did not have enough cash to continue to operate
the business and scale the business. If he used those
funds for his down payment, and so he met our team,
Jimi Rodriguez from our team and Heimi shared with him
our commercial down payment Assistance program that helps businesses, especially
(36:57):
in targeted communities like the one he serving in, to
be able to get liquidity replacement down payment assistance so
that he could buy his building. And when he bought
the building, it needed a lot of work, event a
lot of work and he did improvement to that building.
(37:19):
It is absolutely gorgeous and the students are just so
proud to be able to learn in that local, that location,
and you know what that's going to turn into. Those
students are going to become entrepreneurs and business owners, and
we're trying to create a partnership with them where once
(37:42):
they finish and they want to start, we want to
help them to get started as well. So think about
generational wealth and how that unfolds with an entrepreneur that
you can invest in, which with an entrepreneur who believes
in his possibility and gets with the right partner so
(38:02):
that they can fulfill those possibilities, what a great honor
to serve him.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
That is such a beautiful story and it just goes
on and on. And has just this tremendous ripple effect
with lives that you're touching exponentially. Right, So that is
just that's such a gift, that's such a blessing. But
talk about how collaborative efforts play into this, right? Could
(38:29):
you discuss collaborations with other organizations or community development funding
institutions that have also strengthened AMPACS community impact.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Yes, I'm honored to do that, I said earlier. No
one does this work alone. You just can't do this
work alone, and you need partners on every level. I
think about as I reflected on my twenty years, the
first person that I met in trying to assess what
(39:03):
is the need was a woman named Michelle Skildon. She
was the president of the Inland Empire Women's Business Center
and a gentleman, Vincent McCoy was over the Inland Empire
Small Business Development Center. And they really gave me a
(39:25):
strong understanding of what a small businesses need and how
can we fill the void in this community. That partnership
really blossomed into so many Monica Roblez, who served Spanish
speaking business owners, we hosted that cohort of businesses in
(39:50):
our building and they graduated and brought their families to
their our building so that they could celebrate all that
they learned and in that entrepreneurship program. Those are partnerships
that are extremely valuable for us. Our banking partners are
extremely valuable. We have community banks, we have regional banks,
(40:13):
we have national banks that are part of our partnership
because they get how critical entrepreneurship is, and even if
they can't help a smaller business, they want to make
sure those businesses get served because gets what they're going
to scale up and they're going to need a community bank,
(40:33):
a regional bank, a larger bank to help them to expand,
to grow throughout the state, the nation, and internationally. Those
partners are absolutely critical. And we've even discovered, you know,
the partnership with local hospitals like San Antonio Hospital and TiSER.
(40:55):
Those have been partners of us because entrepreneurship and good
paying jobs are linked to good health too, because if
you're stressed about where am I going to work or
how am I going to serve? That can impact your health.
And so our partners are far reaching and really critical
(41:16):
to the work that we do, and so on our
mobile app, all of these partners the Women's Business Center,
the Small Business Development Center, All of those partners are
on our mobile app because we want people to get
holistic support and get support from people that they feel
the most comfortable getting it from, so that they can
(41:38):
scale and be successful for the long haul.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
And how intuitive is it and brilliant is it to
bring in those healthcare providers, because it's true, if you
don't have.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
A healthy workforce, do you actually have a workforce?
Speaker 7 (41:53):
Right?
Speaker 2 (41:53):
We need to keep our workforce healthy and optimistic and
ready to take on a new day because entreprene viewership
and a mother or a woman and.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Entrepreneurs, as you mentioned, is not for the faint of heart.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
So we need to be ready, energized and healthy to
take charge and have that.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
Ongoing tenacity to reach our goals.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
So, Hilda, what do you see in future trends in
the landscape for small businesses changing in the next few years,
especially in light of recent economic challenges.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
We have to be smart, we have to innovate, We
have to embrace technology. Those who get too concerned about
the politics of the time will be left behind. Look
for the possibilities and look for the opportunities. We may
(42:56):
have to deal with taris. It may benefit us in
the long run, so don't push against it, Embrace what
you can and look for ways to innovate the SBA.
We just had an opportunity. I was in Washington, DC
(43:17):
a couple of weeks ago with the new SBA administrator,
Kelly Loffler, and the SBA is going to remain a
strong agency and advocate for small businesses. For these job
creators who are making a difference in our communities. Use
your SBA as a resource. The SBA will be smarter
(43:40):
about how it does its work, how it streamlines it
works its work, and how it makes sure that small
businesses are getting the resources that they need. I encourage
small businesses to speak up, to know your legislators, to
make sure that your voice and need to hurt, and
(44:03):
to not be afraid of a rejection. I like to say,
when you hear and know, turn it around. It's on.
It's on for you to find the right partner for
you to help you to scale the way that you
desire to and have confidence that your business is ready
(44:23):
for that. So I'm not discouraged in the least about
these times. I am actually motivated and being innovative and
now that we're in California, Arizona and Nevada, we're really
looking forward to how do we bring more resources to
(44:43):
the market to support small businesses.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
Absolutely, and you're doing such a tremendous job and going
now into tri state and across the nation. But let's
share some personal reflections now, reflecting on your journey, what
would you say have been your greatest challenges and rewards
as the founder and president of AMPAK.
Speaker 4 (45:07):
Yeah, but the greatest challenges I would say is work
life integration and recognizing that as a mom that that
remains that remained a challenge and I'm so incredibly encouraged
that my children, uh don't see it that way even
(45:30):
though I did. I think the most rewarding is stories
like the one I shared, and I have hundreds of
those stories where the business owner just did not believe
that they could and creating possibilities, being able to say
to someone We're going to figure this out together. You know.
(45:53):
One of our core values is is giving can chant
this underwriting with the heart and being able to do
that because we have the backing of partners like the
SBA and the Department of Treasury as a community development
financial institution. We're prudent, but we can do it differently.
(46:18):
That's extremely rewarding. And my colleagues and the incredible staff
that we have at AMPAC. My team loves small businesses.
They believe in their possibilities, they look for ways to
get to a yes, and they're so passionate and focused
(46:38):
on small business success. They're really the wind beneath my wing.
They inspire me every day. And I absolutely love the
team that God has given to Impact And you.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Have such a beautiful team that I had the honor
and privilege of getting to know through your open house
on your twenty year anniversary. Congratulations again for that. So
looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of
AMPACT and what legacy do you hope to leave for
the community and the small businesses you serve.
Speaker 4 (47:11):
Thank you so much. So I've talked about us moving
into California, moving into Arizona and Nevada as well. We
call it AMPAC can serve businesses in those three states.
We are looking forward to the entrepreneur ecosystem becoming its
own entity and doing even more work and partnering with
(47:34):
local governments so that we can give them a tool
in their toolbox for economic development and revolving loan funds.
We're looking forward to making sure that our loan programs
can innovate and that we use technology to the fullest
(47:56):
and being able to serve businesses more efficiently while still
being prudent. We are looking forward to making more offerings
with the mobile app, including an executive membership where we
can add executive coaching for CEOs and allow them to
be involved on a monthly basis with other CEOs who
(48:18):
are also scaling up and being able to provide them
with the resources and the tools to be able to
do that. We're looking forward to additional offices and other
communities as well, so that we can be in the
community front facing, because we know how much of a
difference that makes for businesses.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
It really does, and the difference that you've made in
our local community and regional community and beyond is absolutely inspiring.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
Hilda. Thank you for your tremendous work.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
For your dedication and for your faith that you bring
into our community and that you allow the space for
business owners to express their faith together and openly in
a beautiful environment and keeping what's important at the forefront
and the focus. So for that Hilda, Thank you so
much for everything that you do.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
It's certainly my honor, and I'm really looking forward to
our seventeenth annual Connecting Faith in Business Summit on October
twenty third, where we will be at the Ontario Convention Center.
And as I was mentioning before we started, the theme
is Illuminate. You asked a question and about you know,
(49:37):
these times, these economic times, I think it's the perfect
time for faith based business owners to illuminate, to be
alike in this world. And so we're excited about that
and excited about partnering with you and others to make
sure that we can do that together. Illuminate.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Absolutely, Illumination is the key. Thank you so much, Helda,
and for everybody listening, don't forget to find us on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn,
and Instagram. Check us out on SCBR talk dot com.
Don't miss my conversation with Monica Robles, a transformational leader
whose personal and professional endeavors converge at the heart of
(50:18):
the scores. With a keen focus on empowering the Hispanic community,
she has built the program at Emprendadores, a cornerstone initiative
designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs by partnering with OCIE sbdcoh
CC Mexican consulates in Santa Ana and San Bernardino and
various cities across California. Monica is committed to cultivating economic
(50:42):
growth and self sufficiency through education and mentorship. Next week,
we will have Brianna Sherman, an entrepreneur who has successfully
built two businesses and is now embracing an exciting new
career adventure in Rotary through the Epic Day of Service,
with the goal to bring together one point two million
Rotarian members and countless community members worldwide for an extraordinary
(51:07):
day of transformative service projects, an unmissible opportunity to be
part of a global movement showcasing the very best of
humanity and action. As a dedicated Rotarian, she has achieved
remarkable milestones, including serving as her club's president and being
named District fifty four to fifty Rotarian of the Year.
(51:28):
With an unparalleled passion for service, Brianna is committed to
making a lasting impact in her community and beyond. You
do not want to miss it. We will see you
all next week.
Welcome to k MET fourteen ninety AM ABC News Radio
in the Southern California Business Report with Evett Walker, a
show dedicated to highlighting successful Southern California businesses and the
people behind them.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome and thank you for joining Southern California Business Report
on ABC News and talks k ET fourteen ninety AM,
ninety eight point one FM and km ET TV. I'm
Evet Walker live blasting our signal from the center of
Southern California, serving a population of over twenty five million.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Get us crystal.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Clear and on demand by downloading the free live streaming
app on Google Play and the Apple App Store. As always,
a tremendous shout out to the team Mitch, Bill and
Sean I love you guys, and to our special advisory
committee that can be found at www dot scbr talk
dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Forward Slash Advisory Committee Click on the link and.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Learn about the incredible leaders doing the work and is
always dedicated to showcasing and creditable leaders. I am thrilled
to introduce Miss Hilda Kennedy, who is a visionary leader
dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and transforming communities through equitable access
to capital As a founder and president of AMPAC Business Capital,
(01:20):
she has built the nation's faith based, mission driven SBA
lending group, the first faith based, mission driven SBA lended
group rooted in faith integrity and a relentless commitment to
small business success. Raised in south central Los Angeles, Hilda
understands the barrier's many face in building generational wealth. Her
(01:42):
early career and economic development revealed the systemic challenges that
minority and women entrepreneurs encounter when seeking funding. This insight
inspired her to launch AMPAK in two thousand and five
with a mission to finance and foster business success at
all stone ages of growth. Under her leadership, AMPAC became
(02:03):
the first faith based SBA five oh four lender in
the country, deploying over two billion dollars in capital and
supporting the creation of thousands of jobs across California. Hill
Does approach blends a business acumen with compassion. Through initiatives
like the It Is Possible down Payment Assistant program and
(02:26):
the Entrepreneur Ecosystem Resource Center, she ensures that underserved and
first generation entrepreneurs receive not just funding, but also the
tools and support to thrive. Her work has earned national
recognition including being named NABO California's Woman Business of the
Year the Mary Anne Fox Top Female Entrepreneur Award for
(02:50):
twenty twenty four. Kennedy serves on the board of NADCO
Adelphi Credit Union, CAMEO, AAACNFI Ali Acience is as president
of NAVO California and Inland Empire Chapters, and is an
Executive Fellow for the University of California School of Business.
(03:11):
Beyond Business, Hilda is a devoted wife, mother of four,
Bible study teacher, and community mentor. Her journey is rooted
in faith and a deep belief that every entrepreneur, regardless
of background, deserves a chance to succeed.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Hilda, Thank you so much. I'm so honored, and thank
you very much for detailed recognition in that introduction.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Wow, well that's all I can say when I get
to talk to you and I learn about all of
the remarkable work that you have done and continue to do.
In addition to that, this year and recently celebrating twenty
years serving the community, Hilda tell us about what it
means to celebrate twenty year and being surrounded by the
(04:02):
community that absolutely loves you.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Oh well, thank you so much. Well, two decades is
a long time, and I shared at our twentieth anniversary
in the book of Chronicles, it described how Solomon, after
two decades twenty years, finished the Temple, and yet his
(04:25):
work was still to be done. And that's really how
we feel. We've had some good accomplishments in the last
twenty years, and you talked about it, over two billion
dollars in lending for small businesses. But the work is
ongoing because the needs are great and entrepreneurship is so
vital to the growth of our economy across the nation.
(04:50):
And so what we say is the best is yet
to come.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Absolutely, the best is yet to come.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
And I really want to dive into your early inspiration
because as.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
A mother, as a.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Woman, as someone that is business minded and sees the
opportunities that exist to empower others, tell us about that
early journey and what prompted you to start AMPAC to begin.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
With, Yeah, thank you so much for the question. Reflecting
on their early journey is so sobering and no one
does anything alone. You need people. And so while I
was serving as economic development director in a local government,
(05:35):
I loved what I did. I served in a community
that was considered underserved.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
And.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
We would have people. I would have people coming in
my office all the time, passing up banks and saying, hey,
is there something new the city can do to help me?
Are their grant funds? The bank turned me down again,
And what I came to realize is that these businesses
(06:05):
were not necessarily unbankable, but they needed to be coached
and supported to become bankable. And what they needed was
a hand up in order to do that. Not a handout,
but a hand up. And what that meant for us is,
let's look at some alternative underwriting guidelines so that we
(06:28):
could help the businesses in our community. And so I
loved what I did their business assistance, business attraction, and
business retention. But you said it earlier, I'm a mother.
In fact, I'm a mother afore, and I was commuting
from the Inland Empire to Inglewood every day. We didn't
(06:51):
have remote work days during that time, and so what
I was doing is missing my child's lives. And it
became very clear to me on a volunteer in the
classroom day with my older son, and on that day
(07:13):
I ran home and wrote my resignation and said I
can't sacrifice this anymore and I don't want to live
with that. And so that was my inspiration for leaving
and saying I've got to do something different. And a
(07:33):
dear friend who worked with me as a consultant said
why don't you start euro And he's no longer with us,
but he certainly saw something believed in me more than
I believed in myself. But I was willing to go
for it. And that was the start of the AMPAC
(07:55):
and its history.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
That's such a beautiful story and I believe it's a
test meant to being a woman, a vision and you know,
working hard. But Hilda, what would you say to women
that are maybe starting their career starting a business and
you know the common theme that we hear as well.
If you go into business or you start a profession,
(08:18):
you can do that, but you will sacrifice one thing
or the other, like you mentioned, you know, raising a children.
Maybe you don't want to start a family. But what
advice do you have to women that want it all right?
They want to do the family, they want to start
a business, they want to serve their communities.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Is this something that.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Is actually viable and can be successful or is it
a one in a million chance.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Yeah. I am around some incredible women who have done both,
and I call it integration. Some people look for balance.
I don't know what balance looks like, but I know
what integration looks like. And in my start, my children
(09:01):
came to the office, they did homework in the office,
and then when they were done with homework, they helped
me do filing, They did some organization around the office,
cleaned off my desk. It was integration for me. And
so I would say to a woman, don't have unrealistic expectations.
(09:23):
Expect that it is going to be a challenge. You're
going to have some crying days. I mean, I started unpack.
I wanted to get off the freeway. And I missed
the first field trip when I left because I had
meetings starting the business. My heart was broken, absolutely broken.
(09:46):
But I made a lot of field trips. And now
that my children are in their twenties, they still love
me and they tell me they're proud of me. So
that means the most to me. Again, it's not easy,
and it's not for the faint at heart. You and
your partner or your spouse, you've got to make that
(10:08):
decision for your family and then go for it.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
That is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
And you know, something that stands out to me, of course,
and to everybody that hears this is the fact that
AMPAC is the first faith based CDFI and SBA lenders.
So tell us about that process and how that makes
you different from the rest of the lenders, that first
ever in the nation, which is remarkable. Congratulations for that,
(10:38):
Thank you for that.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
You know, it really goes down to our core values.
When we started AMPAC, President Bush was in office at
the time and he had released an executive order to
all departments about engaging the faith based community and solving
some of the challenges of government, and that resonated with me,
(11:04):
as the wife of a pastor and very active in
my faith based community, that this is something we could
get our arms around. We wanted to serve small businesses,
small businesses who were not always able to access credit easily,
and we wanted to serve small businesses who were so
(11:27):
busy doing the grind that they never even looked up
and thought about SBA. And in underserved communities, especially black
and brown community, faith plays such a crucial role in
those communities and they're where people feel that there's trust there.
And so when you're talking about finances, being able to
(11:51):
go in those communities and talk to those small businesses
about the possibilities, the significant and so when we wrote
our application with that component into the US Small Business Administration,
there were a few questions. I mean, there were questions
about h I don't know, it's just a separation. Should
(12:13):
we be concerned about the separation of church and state?
And my response to the SBA was, have you ever
been to one of your awards programs and have you
ever heard of business in those award programs and probably
many giving honor to their God for helping them in
their business, Then why not market and be in front
(12:34):
of the very community that they're thinking for helping them
to get access to growing their business. And the SBA
is often part of that story. And that response really
helped the people understand we're not violating church and state.
We're simply saying businesses who are involved in the faith
(12:57):
based community need to know about SBA and we want
to be really intentional about sharing it. And so that
came the birth from our Pastor's Advisory Committee of our
Connecting Faith in Business summits.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I absolutely love it, and you had one recently not
too long ago. You conduct various events that are aimed
at reaching out to the community. Tell us a little
bit about the Connecting Faith with Business event and what
the strategy and goals were behind presenting information and tangible
takeaways for your guests.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah, thank you very much. Well. First of all, we
had the honor of having Evatte Walker as our MC
in our sixteenth annual Connecting Faith in Business Summit that
brought almost three hundred businesses and faith based leaders together.
And one of the biggest takeaways we always hear from
the people is I just didn't know I could talk
(13:58):
about publicly faith in my business, and from my vantage point,
why can't you? That's an integral part of who you are.
And at the Connecting Faith in Business Summit, we have
a panel business leaders, very successful business leaders, talking about
(14:20):
how their business, how their faith that drives their business,
and how it informs them when they have to make
a tough HR call, even if that means a separation,
when they lose a contract and that contract is not
coming back. And in one of our conferences, one of
(14:42):
the speakers, an engineering company, said that God told them
to pray for their competitors, and they did and they
got they got business, and they got even more business.
It is the bold move of faith to rive business
and business decisions. How you treat employees, how you treat customers,
(15:06):
how you treat vendors, how you treat your bankers, the
integrity and ethics in which you operate in your business,
and being okay with saying it is because my faith
drives me that I operate like this. And it's all
so scary because people are going to hold you to
a higher standard. That means that when you want it
(15:29):
to go off, you probably should refrain from going off
because they're going to say I got you had faith.
So it's a double ed sword, but I'm willing to
take the risk because my faith is my core value. Right.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Well, he flipped tables in the temple, right.
Speaker 6 (15:50):
Absolutely, yes too, yeah, so right there we go, everybody.
So even if you're faith based, there's still times when
times you just have to flip a table or two.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
That's right, that's right, We're good.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
When you're identifying the needs of your community, how do
you assess the needs of small businesses in the community.
When Ampak was first launched.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Yeah, you know what, even we did a lot of
conversations and round tables just talking to the businesses. I
remember one where I was talking to a group of
pastors and talking about what do you do when the
business owner in your congregation clops down in your office
(16:39):
and say it's you know what, I don't know if
I'm going to make it in business? What do you
point them to? How do you help them? And that
business owner talked, I mean that pastor talked about the
landscaper in his congregation. He said, he doesn't speak a
lot of English. Are you going to help him to
fill out the paperwork he may need that level of
(17:02):
hand holding. Are you going to tell him exactly how
the loan works? Are you going to make sure that
he understands all the nuances of the loan so that
he's not signing away everything he owns and his dog
and his cat? I mean, are you going to do
that for him? And that's how we developed our tagline,
(17:25):
We'll walk with you hand in hand throughout the process.
For the person who has a CPA and is very
well versed on their financials, and for the person who
doesn't even know what a CPA is and barely has
a bookkeeper. We're going to walk with you hand in
hand throughout the process too, and it doesn't matter how
big or how small the loan is. Our goal is
(17:48):
to help that person get access to the resources they
need so that that business can grow and thrive.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Absolutely an IMPAC does that beautifully.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
In addition to its life it also has additional programs,
but we'll talk about that later. So for now, Hilda,
tell us about the different types of lending and funding
types and products that AMPAC offers two small businesses that
cater to various needs, right from those that are well
established have their CPAs and lawyers in pocket, to those
(18:21):
that are just brand new stepping into the landscape of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Thank you EVEV for the question, And you know that's
exactly it's our loan products today. It's they were informed
by that focus group called the Connecting Faith in Business
Summit when AMPAC started. Our focus, when we became a
partner of the SBA and got certified, our focus was
(18:48):
helping businesses to buy the commercial real estate for their business,
which helps them create stability in terms of their cost
which helps them to be able to plan their cost
over time and make sure that their business is going
to be there and they're not going to be vacated
because a landlord sells the building from under them, and
(19:12):
to fix their cost with this resource so that they
don't have to worry about interest rate fluctuations. So that's
what the SBA five o four program does. In our
Connecting Faith in Business summit, our businesses said, you know what,
we need other products as well, and so what they
shared with us is we need businesses. We need help
(19:35):
for businesses that are starting out. So we changed our
tagline and our mission to say we finance and foster
business success from crado to legacy. So from the small
business that's just getting started or even pre revenue, we
have an SBA micro loan that serves that business. For
(19:58):
the business that's scaling, we have the AMPAC Direct Loan
and the AMPACK Community Advantage loan helping businesses with working
capital up to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And
for that business that's buying their building they're ready to
stabilize their costs and really create generational wealth, we can
(20:19):
help them with the SBA five or four product by
their building and those loans can go up to over
thirty million dollars with the SBA being a public private partnership,
so the bank does a portion, SBA does a portion
up to five million, or if it's a manufacturer, up
to five and a half million dollars. Those products really
(20:42):
serve the business holistically, from cradle to legacy.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
That is a phenomenal that you're able to pool these
resources together for the benefit of the business community. So
tell us about the benefits that these lending options give
to your clients compared to traditional lending tools and products.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
Yeah, thank you so much for that question. You know,
oftentimes when people are looking at the SBA product, it's
a credit enhancement. The bank may want to do the transaction,
but they can't because it falls outside of their credit box.
But if they have the support of the SPA, then
(21:32):
they're more likely to do the loan. Although for most banks,
the small dollar loans under three hundred and fifty thousand
dollars they were just tougher for them to do when
they think about the return on investment and the amount
of handholding it requires for those small businesses. So that's
(21:52):
why we get support from banks so that we can
serve those businesses that they aren't able to serve those products.
The SBA Micro Loan for businesses pre revenue to existing
businesses up to fifty thousand dollars provides a fixed rate
interest rate and a loan term of seven years. That's
(22:15):
significant because if you go to a traditional bank and
you're trying to get a small working capital loan, they
may invite you to get a credit card, or they
may invite you to a term loan for five years.
What that means is your monthly payment is going to
be higher, and so the longer term helps you to
(22:36):
manage your payments over time, and it doesn't provide a
pre payment penalty, so it's beneficial to the business. For
the Community Advantage loan up to three hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, that term is ten years. Again, you're thinking
about your monthly payments and reducing your monthly payments so
(22:56):
that you can have the resources to make sure that
you can serve a contract, or add another employee, or
innovate in the business to look for new products. That's
really significant about the Community Advantage product and our signature product.
The SBA five or four program five or four loan
(23:18):
where you it's a public private partnership. Up to fifty
percent of the loan or more comes from the bank.
Up to forty percent comes from SBA that we manage
an administer, and then the barwer ten percent down. Why
is that significant? Eve? It's significant because if someone was
(23:39):
going to buy their buy a building for their business,
typically they would have to use thirty to thirty five
percent down in terms of a down payment. This product
is only ten percent down. Why is that significant? It's
because if I'm putting more down, then it's impeding my
(24:01):
ability to open up new markets or add new employees. Again,
so the product is sensitive to that. And it's a
fixed interest rate. And again that allows a business to
plan their cost over time. So this blended rate is
really significant for business seeking to grow.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
That is remarkable, Hilda. I love those products.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
But we are coming up on a break right now.
Everybody listening. Evett Walker with ABC News and Talks Southern
California Business Report here today with Hilda Kennedy, founder and
President of AMPAC Business Capital, who has dedicated her career
to empowering underserved communities through access to capital and resources
by championing inclusive financial practices. She has transformed the landscape
(24:46):
for countless entrepreneurs, enabling them to realize their dreams, cultivate hope, resilience,
and opportunity for future generations. When we return.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Cal State, Samernardino is home to the only School of
Entrepreneurship in California with globally ranked degree programs.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
You can start your journey today to become a successful entrepreneur.
Speaker 7 (25:25):
Learn more and connect at e ntre dot co, SUSB
dot edu.
Speaker 8 (25:33):
Hi.
Speaker 9 (25:33):
I'm Dana Rademaker with MGR Property Management. A lot of
people wonder about the value that property management has for
their property. Property management can include all property types, including residential, commercial,
and HLA. It is valuable because property managers are experienced
in what can happen at your property, where where liabilities.
(25:54):
We're able to do predictive and preventive maintenance. We know
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projects that your property are. We're able to best negotiate.
Speaker 10 (26:07):
Contract pricing, legalities with your tenants and anything else that
you may need to ensure that you're getting the full value.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Of your property.
Speaker 10 (26:14):
If you're interested in speaking with the representative at MGR
Property Management regarding your property management needs. You can visit
our website at mgrreal Estate dot com, or you can
call our number at area code nine zero nine by
BAG one six six zero zero to be connected with
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Speaker 7 (26:33):
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with over sixty five daily NonStop flights to more than
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Visit fly onto dot com slash Ontario to learn more
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Hi, I'm Sambordino County Sheriff Shannondicas. If you're looking to
start an exciting career in law enforcement and make a
difference in your community. We are higher dispatchers, nurses, deputies, laterals,
and many more. For a complete list of our jobs
and more information, visit Sheriff's Jobs dot com.
Speaker 11 (27:09):
We are the Empire Strikers, the professional sports team of
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(27:34):
us and come watch the greatest show on turf at
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Speaker 8 (27:48):
The University of Laverne is rated first in California for
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the Canyons. Visit go dot Laverne dot edu the University
of Laverne go dot Laverne dot edu.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Good one, All right, Welcome back everyone.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Evett Walker with ABC News and Talks Southern California Business
Report here today with Hilda Kennedy, founder and President of
AMPAC Business Capital, who has dedicated her career to empowering
underserved communities through access to capital and resources. By championing
inclusive financial practices, she has transformed the landscape for countless entrepreneurs,
(28:42):
enabling them to realize their dreams, cultivate hope, resilience, and
the opportunity for future generations. Thank you so much for
being with us today, Hilda.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
Thank you so much, my honor, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
My honor, Hilda.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
So prior to the break we talked about tax origins,
what inspired you to pursue this now twenty year career
in lending with over two billion dollars of funding that
you have made available to entrepreneurs who otherwise may not
have received it, and just absolutely thrilled to have you
(29:19):
and talk about all of the incredible things that you
and AMPAC do together to serve our communities and build
our economic landscape. So prior to the break, you went
into some of the different funding products that AMPAC has
and which are phenomenal. And of those products, which would
you say is the most popular?
Speaker 4 (29:41):
You know it popularity. That's a good question. Actually, all
of them are popular depending on the need of the
business at the time. And I think what we've tried
to build is a holistic cradle to legacy approach to
serving small businessesses as a nonprofit, mission based lender coming
(30:05):
alongside banks to provide products that they would otherwise not do,
but they believe in the business owner and want to
make sure that they get served.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
And so in addition to these tremendous funding resources and
partnerships you have with SBA, local banks and other lenders,
what other supportive services does AMPAC offer to its local businesses.
And I know one of the big things that AMPAC
is so dedicated to acknowledging is this ecosystem of business
(30:39):
building and community building. Tell us about what the ecosystem
within AMPAC to serve businesses that you fund or that
are looking to be funded.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
What does that look like?
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Thank you for the question. So we like to say
the entrepreneur ecosystem is access to community, us to coaching,
and access to capital. And we do that in partnership
with others. But we offer a leap to launch entrepreneur
Incubator program that is a twelve to eighteen month program
(31:15):
where entrepreneurs come together in a cohort to learn together.
They're learning how to build good financial record keeping. They're
learning how to document their vision and their mission and
their core values. They're learning how to create accountability systems.
They're learning how to build the foundational components of a
(31:38):
business so that they can scale. You know, business owners
are really great in the craft that they do. I'm
a great baker, but baking is not enough for business.
You got to have some business financial acumen and that's
what the Incubator program does. And we have a partnership
with the City of Ontario to host a specific program
(32:02):
for Ontario based businesses, and those incubator programs are tremendous
and we've gotten such great feedback. On an ongoing basis,
we have a banker who is part of our team,
or I should say a retired banker who's part of
our team, who hosts a call weekly for business owners
(32:25):
to ask whatever questions they have on how to scale,
how to look at their financials, how to better understand
their balance sheet, how to tweak something in their financials
to ensure that they are bankable, how to put together
projections to help the business grow. And then we have
(32:48):
a mobile app that is a twenty four to seven
pocket resource for businesses is what we call it. It
is available on Android or iPhone that you can there's
no cost, but it is rich with information to help
a business to scale. And we like to say at
(33:08):
the time business owners operate, that might be two in
the morning, that maybe midnight. You know, it's not the
traditional times that a bank is open or even that
our offices are open, but we do want to make
sure that those business owners are getting real time information
to help them to scale. When we added an AI
(33:30):
component on the mobile app that we pay for to
make sure that businesses can do some research on their
businesses that can help them to scale as well. They
can use the chatbot. It's been curated with information about
a number of SBA and other local resources, but it
(33:51):
also allows them to use a trusted chatbot to help
them to research and get information to help them to
innovate and create new products or get an understanding of
something that they're working on.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
That is so exciting talking about innovating. You're leading the
charge of innovation through this tremendous tool, implementing AI and
all the countless resources that any business owner, as you mentioned,
at any hour of the day could have access to.
I absolutely love it and that's why I have it
on my phone too.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
I love your app, so thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
So with that said, Hilda, you must have so many
success stories, but please share one that really stands out
to you that has thrived as with the help of
Ampax financial support.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Oh gosh, I have so many. The one that stood
out that I wanted to share in this conversation is
a veteran owned business that we served who served our
United States Navy. He as a youngster, had had a
few infractions in the neighborhood that he grew up with
(35:05):
the law and going through the process. There are questions
that you answer on an application. On the application, and
he had to answer yes to some of those questions
because of his teenage past. It was tough for him.
He was embarrassed about it because he was so far
(35:27):
removed from it. But he was so diligent about answering
the question and getting us the information that we needed
so that he could proceed with the application. He was
serving such a significant need in his community because he
(35:49):
was he's a barber and he did barbering in the
Navy and decided he was going to start a barber
college and in that barber college help young people who
could go one way or another. And with government resources
to try and get these young people educated, he decided
(36:11):
to implement or start this barber college. And he had
such great traction with the barber college, so much traction
that he was busting at the seams of his building.
He just grew out of that building and he wanted
to buy another building. He could buy the building, but
(36:33):
he did not have enough cash to continue to operate
the business and scale the business. If he used those
funds for his down payment, and so he met our team,
Jimi Rodriguez from our team and Heimi shared with him
our commercial down payment Assistance program that helps businesses, especially
(36:57):
in targeted communities like the one he serving in, to
be able to get liquidity replacement down payment assistance so
that he could buy his building. And when he bought
the building, it needed a lot of work, event a
lot of work and he did improvement to that building.
(37:19):
It is absolutely gorgeous and the students are just so
proud to be able to learn in that local, that location,
and you know what that's going to turn into. Those
students are going to become entrepreneurs and business owners, and
we're trying to create a partnership with them where once
(37:42):
they finish and they want to start, we want to
help them to get started as well. So think about
generational wealth and how that unfolds with an entrepreneur that
you can invest in, which with an entrepreneur who believes
in his possibility and gets with the right partner so
(38:02):
that they can fulfill those possibilities, what a great honor
to serve him.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
That is such a beautiful story and it just goes
on and on. And has just this tremendous ripple effect
with lives that you're touching exponentially. Right, So that is
just that's such a gift, that's such a blessing. But
talk about how collaborative efforts play into this, right? Could
(38:29):
you discuss collaborations with other organizations or community development funding
institutions that have also strengthened AMPACS community impact.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Yes, I'm honored to do that, I said earlier. No
one does this work alone. You just can't do this
work alone, and you need partners on every level. I
think about as I reflected on my twenty years, the
first person that I met in trying to assess what
(39:03):
is the need was a woman named Michelle Skildon. She
was the president of the Inland Empire Women's Business Center
and a gentleman, Vincent McCoy was over the Inland Empire
Small Business Development Center. And they really gave me a
(39:25):
strong understanding of what a small businesses need and how
can we fill the void in this community. That partnership
really blossomed into so many Monica Roblez, who served Spanish
speaking business owners, we hosted that cohort of businesses in
(39:50):
our building and they graduated and brought their families to
their our building so that they could celebrate all that
they learned and in that entrepreneurship program. Those are partnerships
that are extremely valuable for us. Our banking partners are
extremely valuable. We have community banks, we have regional banks,
(40:13):
we have national banks that are part of our partnership
because they get how critical entrepreneurship is, and even if
they can't help a smaller business, they want to make
sure those businesses get served because gets what they're going
to scale up and they're going to need a community bank,
(40:33):
a regional bank, a larger bank to help them to expand,
to grow throughout the state, the nation, and internationally. Those
partners are absolutely critical. And we've even discovered, you know,
the partnership with local hospitals like San Antonio Hospital and TiSER.
(40:55):
Those have been partners of us because entrepreneurship and good
paying jobs are linked to good health too, because if
you're stressed about where am I going to work or
how am I going to serve? That can impact your health.
And so our partners are far reaching and really critical
(41:16):
to the work that we do, and so on our
mobile app, all of these partners the Women's Business Center,
the Small Business Development Center, All of those partners are
on our mobile app because we want people to get
holistic support and get support from people that they feel
the most comfortable getting it from, so that they can
(41:38):
scale and be successful for the long haul.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
And how intuitive is it and brilliant is it to
bring in those healthcare providers, because it's true, if you
don't have.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
A healthy workforce, do you actually have a workforce?
Speaker 7 (41:53):
Right?
Speaker 2 (41:53):
We need to keep our workforce healthy and optimistic and
ready to take on a new day because entreprene viewership
and a mother or a woman and.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Entrepreneurs, as you mentioned, is not for the faint of heart.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
So we need to be ready, energized and healthy to
take charge and have that.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
Ongoing tenacity to reach our goals.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
So, Hilda, what do you see in future trends in
the landscape for small businesses changing in the next few years,
especially in light of recent economic challenges.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
We have to be smart, we have to innovate, We
have to embrace technology. Those who get too concerned about
the politics of the time will be left behind. Look
for the possibilities and look for the opportunities. We may
(42:56):
have to deal with taris. It may benefit us in
the long run, so don't push against it, Embrace what
you can and look for ways to innovate the SBA.
We just had an opportunity. I was in Washington, DC
(43:17):
a couple of weeks ago with the new SBA administrator,
Kelly Loffler, and the SBA is going to remain a
strong agency and advocate for small businesses. For these job
creators who are making a difference in our communities. Use
your SBA as a resource. The SBA will be smarter
(43:40):
about how it does its work, how it streamlines it
works its work, and how it makes sure that small
businesses are getting the resources that they need. I encourage
small businesses to speak up, to know your legislators, to
make sure that your voice and need to hurt, and
(44:03):
to not be afraid of a rejection. I like to say,
when you hear and know, turn it around. It's on.
It's on for you to find the right partner for
you to help you to scale the way that you
desire to and have confidence that your business is ready
(44:23):
for that. So I'm not discouraged in the least about
these times. I am actually motivated and being innovative and
now that we're in California, Arizona and Nevada, we're really
looking forward to how do we bring more resources to
(44:43):
the market to support small businesses.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
Absolutely, and you're doing such a tremendous job and going
now into tri state and across the nation. But let's
share some personal reflections now, reflecting on your journey, what
would you say have been your greatest challenges and rewards
as the founder and president of AMPAK.
Speaker 4 (45:07):
Yeah, but the greatest challenges I would say is work
life integration and recognizing that as a mom that that
remains that remained a challenge and I'm so incredibly encouraged
that my children, uh don't see it that way even
(45:30):
though I did. I think the most rewarding is stories
like the one I shared, and I have hundreds of
those stories where the business owner just did not believe
that they could and creating possibilities, being able to say
to someone We're going to figure this out together. You know.
(45:53):
One of our core values is is giving can chant
this underwriting with the heart and being able to do
that because we have the backing of partners like the
SBA and the Department of Treasury as a community development
financial institution. We're prudent, but we can do it differently.
(46:18):
That's extremely rewarding. And my colleagues and the incredible staff
that we have at AMPAC. My team loves small businesses.
They believe in their possibilities, they look for ways to
get to a yes, and they're so passionate and focused
(46:38):
on small business success. They're really the wind beneath my wing.
They inspire me every day. And I absolutely love the
team that God has given to Impact And you.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Have such a beautiful team that I had the honor
and privilege of getting to know through your open house
on your twenty year anniversary. Congratulations again for that. So
looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of
AMPACT and what legacy do you hope to leave for
the community and the small businesses you serve.
Speaker 4 (47:11):
Thank you so much. So I've talked about us moving
into California, moving into Arizona and Nevada as well. We
call it AMPAC can serve businesses in those three states.
We are looking forward to the entrepreneur ecosystem becoming its
own entity and doing even more work and partnering with
(47:34):
local governments so that we can give them a tool
in their toolbox for economic development and revolving loan funds.
We're looking forward to making sure that our loan programs
can innovate and that we use technology to the fullest
(47:56):
and being able to serve businesses more efficiently while still
being prudent. We are looking forward to making more offerings
with the mobile app, including an executive membership where we
can add executive coaching for CEOs and allow them to
be involved on a monthly basis with other CEOs who
(48:18):
are also scaling up and being able to provide them
with the resources and the tools to be able to
do that. We're looking forward to additional offices and other
communities as well, so that we can be in the
community front facing, because we know how much of a
difference that makes for businesses.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
It really does, and the difference that you've made in
our local community and regional community and beyond is absolutely inspiring.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
Hilda. Thank you for your tremendous work.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
For your dedication and for your faith that you bring
into our community and that you allow the space for
business owners to express their faith together and openly in
a beautiful environment and keeping what's important at the forefront
and the focus. So for that Hilda, Thank you so
much for everything that you do.
Speaker 4 (49:15):
It's certainly my honor, and I'm really looking forward to
our seventeenth annual Connecting Faith in Business Summit on October
twenty third, where we will be at the Ontario Convention Center.
And as I was mentioning before we started, the theme
is Illuminate. You asked a question and about you know,
(49:37):
these times, these economic times, I think it's the perfect
time for faith based business owners to illuminate, to be
alike in this world. And so we're excited about that
and excited about partnering with you and others to make
sure that we can do that together. Illuminate.
Speaker 2 (49:57):
Absolutely, Illumination is the key. Thank you so much, Helda,
and for everybody listening, don't forget to find us on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn,
and Instagram. Check us out on SCBR talk dot com.
Don't miss my conversation with Monica Robles, a transformational leader
whose personal and professional endeavors converge at the heart of
(50:18):
the scores. With a keen focus on empowering the Hispanic community,
she has built the program at Emprendadores, a cornerstone initiative
designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs by partnering with OCIE sbdcoh
CC Mexican consulates in Santa Ana and San Bernardino and
various cities across California. Monica is committed to cultivating economic
(50:42):
growth and self sufficiency through education and mentorship. Next week,
we will have Brianna Sherman, an entrepreneur who has successfully
built two businesses and is now embracing an exciting new
career adventure in Rotary through the Epic Day of Service,
with the goal to bring together one point two million
Rotarian members and countless community members worldwide for an extraordinary
(51:07):
day of transformative service projects, an unmissible opportunity to be
part of a global movement showcasing the very best of
humanity and action. As a dedicated Rotarian, she has achieved
remarkable milestones, including serving as her club's president and being
named District fifty four to fifty Rotarian of the Year.
(51:28):
With an unparalleled passion for service, Brianna is committed to
making a lasting impact in her community and beyond. You
do not want to miss it. We will see you
all next week.
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