During Native American Heritage Month, The Loan Fund is featuring some of its Indigenous clients who have steadily grown their businesses over the years. The Loan Fund is one of the few lenders in New Mexico that provide capital and lines of credit to Native Americans as many commercial banks do not loan to reservation residents because of tribes’ unique land status.
SSC Construction – San Felipe Pueblo
When Doris Sandoval, co-owner of SSC Construction, talks about the single-family homes she’s built for clients living in New Mexico’s Pueblos, she takes pride in the final product. “It’s my home before we give it to you,” says Ms. Sandoval, who is a citizen of San Felipe Pueblo. “If it is my home, I would like to see it in great condition before I give it to you.”
It’s this mission that has helped Ms. Sandoval build or remodel more than 50 homes on tribal lands for the past 17 years. Lines of credit extended by The Loan Fund have helped her engage in a few projects at once
rather than completing one project at a time.
SSC Construction is also a family-oriented business. The business employs four workers, including her brother, and several subcontractors. And while many businesses were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, SSC Construction started its first commercial project, an Emergency Operations Center at Zia Pueblo as a subcontractor taking care of the plumbing and electrical work. Restructuring the company during the pandemic also helped keep the business going strong.
SSC’s ability to find work during a previous recession, history of contract completion, workmanship and positive recommendations have helped the company build its reputation for dependability and creditworthiness.
Ms. Sandoval, who wants to eventually move into federal contracting, said The Loan Fund’s support has been more than helpful.
“It’s like having availability of funds so I can bid on houses or have funding available as opposed to waiting for a draw down and moving that way,” Ms. Sandoval said. The Loan Fund “has been a godsend.”
Hosteen Wade Electric LLC – Prewitt
It was 11 years ago that Michael Hosteen created Hosteen Wade Electric LLC, an electrical contracting business serving residential, commercial and industrial clients on the Navajo Nation and throughout the Southwest from his business based in Prewitt, NM.
Hosteen trained for five years under the New Mexico Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Electrical Industry, then became a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 611 in New Mexico before opening his own business. After traveling all over the U.S. working on various projects, Hosteen decided it was time to come back to his home on the Navajo Nation when he got married to be there for his budding family.
After receiving his contractor license, he started bidding on small jobs and saved money after each project. He increased his equipment by buying used tools and vehicles from companies that were going out of business. Some of the biggest jobs came after meeting a general contractor who offered him electrical work on the remodeling of grocery stories while taking his licensing test.
“We did two jobs for him and the general contractor liked our work so he started asking us to bid with them to get those contracts,” he said.
Now he has eight employees and has partnered with another general contractor going through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, a nine-year SBA certification process offered to diverse business owners designed to strengthen their ability to compete in federal contracting. Hosteen met the owner of the Sparrow Group while attending a networking function. Hosteen now has his eye on also applying for the SBA’s 8(a) program and the Sparrow Group owner has agreed to be his mentor.
“My main thing has been to create a team on the government side to get federal contracts. I’m working on the HUB Zone and Native American-owned certifications and other things. It’s going to happen—it’s going to take awhile but it will happen,” Hosteen said.
Hosteen said The Loan Fund has been particularly helpful with the lines of credit, which help him purchase materials before a job starts.
His advice when it comes to growing a business: Go after what you want.
“When you start a business, it’s going to be hard from the get-go for two three years and you will want to quit. You’ll be maxing out your cards just to get the business going. The loans will be hard to get as well. But keep going. Don’t quit. You’ll get that one job and it will go from there and you’ll get another one and it will keep going,” he said.
Find them on Facebook @Hosteen-Wade-Electric-LLC or on the web at hosteenwadeelectric.com.