Rodrigo Cadena started his business life in the United States with a single pastry and cake shop in Mission.

As the CEO of Los Pastelas Caseros de Gaby’s, his goal from inception was to scale up with more locations in the Rio Grande Valley. The cake shop company has its roots in Mexico, where it has three locations in the Reynosa area. Cadena aimed for similar successes in the U.S. market. His company has worked to reach many of its goals over the last dozen years in expanding to five locations in the Valley.

The company’s growth can be attributed to its quality products and solid customer base along with another key ally. Cadena has been the recipient of business loans from LiftFund, a national nonprofit organization that provides resources to small businesses. LiftFund is active in the Valley in offering a range of loans and tools to small businesses that often lack access to resources from commercial sources.

“It has been a great collaboration,” Cadena said of his association with LiftFund. “It has been vital for us. LiftFund has allowed us to even think about having growth.”

Providing Capital

Growing a business, as Cadena points out, requires capital.

Securing that capital can be an insurmountable challenge for many small businesses when seeking a standard commercial bank loan. Marlene Rodriguez is the market director for LiftFund in the RGV. She says the region’s rapid economic growth does not always reach entrepreneurs in smaller communities – and even those in bigger cities – who can struggle to get capital to grow their businesses. 

LiftFund can step in and offer low interest loans with fewer barriers than those seen from banks. It offers technical support and educational services in preparing small businesses in applying for its loans. The access to loans through LiftFund has reached 2,183 Valley businesses since 1998. The total dollar loan disbursement has been $36 million with 4,657 jobs created. 

“We’re helping to revitalize cities with new tax revenues,” Rodriguez said of small business growth boosted by LiftFund. “We still have a lot more to do in building awareness so people know that there are other resources available.”

Buying Down Interest

An example of LiftFund helping smaller communities is its recent partnership with the Elsa Economic Development Corporation. Together, they set up a zero-percent interest loan program, offering loans of up to $50,000.

Elsa businesses qualifying for assistance get the added benefit of the local EDC buying down the interest on their loans. The resulting zero percent loans, when combined with injecting new capital into the city’s small businesses, are sure to boost economic growth in Elsa.

“For the first time, we have a tool that allows us to directly support small businesses with low-cost capital,” said Daniel Rivera, the executive director of the Elsa EDC. “This program provides a direct path to funding, offering a real advantage for businesses looking to grow.”

Boosting Local Business

Elsa’s partnership with LiftFund emulates similar arrangements the nonprofit organization enjoys with other Valley cities. LiftFund entered the RGV market through McAllen. Since 1998, it has provided over 2,000 small business loans in the city and created over 4,000 jobs. The loan maximum in McAllen is $250,000 and there is also a zero-percent interest loan component like the one in Elsa.

“To see how far we’ve come from our first meeting with LiftFund to where we are now is exciting,” said Michelle Quiroz of Reserva Coffee Roasters, which has gone from a single location to four stores in McAllen and Edinburg. 

Edinburg is another city that has partnered with LiftFund. The city recently renewed an agreement with the nonprofit organization to continue a program that offers up to $50,000 in small business loans and financial support to buy down interest on loans. Beyond the agreements with cities, LiftFund also works with individual businesses that are owned by veterans, first responders and professionals in the medical field in offering loan programs that fit their needs.

Cadena, who owns the upper Valley cake shops, offers his own accolades to the help provided by LiftFund.

“Thanks to them,” he said, “we have many more customers knowing about our products and noticing us in the U.S. market.”