• Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Flickr
  • Slideshare
  • Rss
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
SBDC Tampa Bay
  • Home
  • Solutions
    • Certifications
      • Business Certifications
      • Minority-Owned Business
      • Woman-Owned Business
      • Veteran-Owned Business
    • Consulting & Training
      • Training
      • Training Calendar
      • Consulting
      • Schedule a Consultant
    • Business Solutions
      • Growth Acceleration
      • Government Contracting
      • International Trade
      • Starting Your Business
      • Disaster Preparedness
      • Student Teams
      • Organizational Development
  • Resources
    • Business Resources
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Insights
    • Blog
    • Media Inquiries
  • About Us
    • Mission / Vision
    • Consultants
    • Meet the Staff
    • Meet Our Clients
    • Partners / Affiliates
  • Training
    • On-Demand Seminars
    • Tampa Training
    • USF CONNECT Training
    • Highlands, Hardee, DeSoto Counties Training
    • Polk County Training
    • Pasco County Training
    • Pinellas County Training
    • Sarasota & Manatee Counties Training
    • Hernando County Training
    • Hillsborough County Training
  • Results
    • Success Stories
    • Economic Impact
  • Locations
    • Tampa
    • Hillsborough
    • Hernando County
    • Pinellas County
    • Highlands, Hardee, DeSoto
    • Polk County
    • Manatee
    • Sarasota
  • Contact
  • Schedule a Consultant
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Blog

Loan Allows Daycare to Keep Children A Priority

Featured News, Success Stories

Higher Learning Academy of Polk County

Higher LearningChild care is something people get into because they have a passion for education and teaching children. That was the case for Betty Bent, owner of Higher Learning Academy of Central Florida, located in Lake Wales. Bent cherishes the 45 kids, ages six weeks to 10-years-old, that are under her care on a daily basis. As one can imagine, when Hurricane Irma swept through the area in September 2017, it left the Academy at a stand-still, as the playground area no longer met state standards.

That’s when Bent decided she needed to reach out for some assistance to get things running again. She decided to apply for a State of Florida Emergency Bridge Loan, with the assistance of the Florida SBDC at University of South Florida.

When asked about her experience with the storm and the assistance received, she recalled:

What type of damage occurred?
We lost a lot of outside toys. We lost a lot of mulch and dirt foundation. With DCF, you have to have a certain number of inches in mulch. We had damage where water came into the building. It damaged some of the book casings and it damaged some of the ceiling tiles. We lost all the food we had in the building because we had no power for five days.

How will the Bridge Loan help?
The money from the Bridge loan program will help our business recovery because now I’ll be able to go out and get better structured toys and I can go out and redo the playground and get it up to standards for DCF. It’s going to help us a lot as we proceed with the business.

How was the Florida SBDC at USF helpful during this process?
This has been a nice process from the beginning. The application for the loan was very simple. It was easy to apply and understand. My representative explained everything page for page when I was signing. He even gave me some tips as to how to save in the next six months to be able to pay the money back in a timely manner.

March 30, 2018/by admin
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://sbdctampabay.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Higher-Learning-.jpg 1080 810 admin /wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Locked-Host-Logos-Horizontal-USF-Small-e1635274663378.png admin2018-03-30 20:42:382021-12-15 02:32:50Loan Allows Daycare to Keep Children A Priority

Categories

  • Business Essentials
  • Business Plans
  • Buying a Business
  • Certifications
  • COVID-19
  • Crowdfunding
  • Disaster Preparedness
  • Economic Development
  • Finance
  • Government Contracting
  • Growing Your Business
  • Healthcare
  • Human Resources
  • International Trade
  • Marketing
  • Press Releases
  • Radio and Podcast
  • Starting a Business
  • Success Stories
  • Success Stories Videos
  • Tech Commercialization/Tech Transfer
  • Veteran
  • Web and Social Media

Email Newsletters

Sign Up Now

Contact Us

Tampa

Port Authority Building
1101 Channelside Drive, Suite 210

Tampa, Florida 33602

813-905-5800

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Florida SBDC Network

The Florida SBDC at the University of South Florida is a member of the Florida SBDC Network, a statewide partnership program nationally accredited by the Association of America’s SBDCs and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida, and other private and public partners, with the University of West Florida serving as the network’s lead host institution. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals.

Logos

Business Assistance

USFMuma

State Designated as Florida’s Principal Provider of Business Assistance [§ 288.01, Fla. Stat.]

© Florida SBDC at USF | contact webmaster
Recycled Waste Facility Utilizes Local Resource to Find Funding Poo-fessional Recycled Organics and Land Management Story Grove Statewide Grove Recouping with Bridge Loan
Scroll to top