Betting the Ranch on a Business Idea

Senior Sgt. Ike Hill traveled the world during his 25 years with the U.S. Army. When Hill left the service, he returned to a piece of land in rural Mississippi where his family had lived and worked since before the Civil War.

Hill had grown up raising horses and cattle, and found that ranching was still in his blood. With his wife and sons, he launched a soon-thriving horse and cattle business. When he realized there was not a local, affordable source for the feed and supplies he needed, Hill approached several financial institutions with plans to open a county co-op.

But while the need was clear, the customers were there, and Hill knew ranching inside and out, the banks weren’t willing to take a chance on what they saw as a dark horse.

“It was a small amount of money, but they didn’t think I had enough business experience to make it successful,” Hill says. “I was determined to do it one way or another, and by the time HOPE came out to talk to me, I had already decided that I was just going to do it on my own. But HOPE was willing to take a chance on me.”

HOPE gave Hill the commercial loan he needed to purchase a building adjacent to the land where he grew up. Within weeks, a sign on the building proudly proclaimed it the home of the Hinds County Co-op. Soon Hill was bringing in hay, feed, and supplies for his own horses and cattle, as well as for the goats, chickens, fish, and other livestock his neighboring farmers and ranchers were raising.

In the short year since its doors opened, the Hinds County Co-op has not only been doing a thriving business, it’s also become a center for community outreach.

He has organized bi-monthly cooking classes at the co-op that allow elderly homemakers who “no longer felt needed” to teach the next generation how to cook from scratch. Hill contracted with a local vet to provide sessions on animal care and invests a great deal of his own time “teaching urban cowboys about horses.”

“I would be helping people and my community one way or another, but thanks to HOPE, I have a facility I can use to give them that help,” Hill says. “HOPE is putting a hand out to help the community. HOPE understood what the banks didn’t – that sometimes the one you turn down is the one who could have done the most.”

How a Small Business Grows

Raul Castro and his family emigrated from Cuba to the United States when he was just 11 years old. In the mid-1980s, Castro was working as a waiter at a
high-end New Orleans restaurant when he bought a lawn mower and began cutting grass on weekends to earn extra income.

“My wife thought I was crazy for spending so many hours on a lawn mower,” Castro recalls. “But within a few months, I was making more money on the mower than I was at the restaurant.”

In 1995, Castro turned in his waiter’s uniform and dedicated himself full-time to his thriving landscaping business, Sun Tropic Landscape & Garden Center, Inc., which employs six people.

“I needed a line of credit for working capital, but I ran into problems with the paperwork,” Castro says. “That’s one thing about small business owners – we can be very good at the work we do, but we might not be familiar with the financial work needed to run the business.”

Castro found the solutions he needed at Hope Credit Union. Castro enrolled in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative (10KSB), which provides businesses with access to education, capital, and support services designed to help them grow.

HOPE, the 10KSB lending partner in Mississippi and Louisiana, introduced Castro to 10KSB and provided him with a line of credit that has given Sun Tropic the working capital it needs to compete for larger landscaping contracts.

“The 10KSB program helped us double our revenues,” Castro says. “I knew how to plant the plants, but I didn’t know much about how to manage the business. The program gave me the tools I needed to see what I was doing wrong and how I could improve.

“My relationship with HOPE is great,” Castro says. “A lot of the big banks don’t want to take a chance on a smaller business. I knew we could be one of those bigger businesses in the future if someone would give us a chance today. We didn’t need a handout, we just needed an opportunity. I’m thankful to HOPE for giving us the opportunity to compete.”