Success stories

Chepo's Tamales, Elmira

BACKGROUND
Chepo’s Tamales and Groceries is located in Elmira, CA. The business conducts both retail sales at its market in Elmira, CA and wholesale sales of tamales to vendors in Solano and Yolo counties. Chepo’s Tamales produces and sells authentic Mexican Style homemade Tamales. The recipe for the tamales is based on those from the Northern Mexico territory which puts a lot of emphasis on the corn and the grind into corn meal. Each tamale is tied with a corn husk at each end rather than just folding it over.

Eco-Delight Coffee, Suisun City

BACKGROUND
Bendig-Moran Roasting, LLC d.b.a. Eco-Delight Coffee is located in Suisun City, California. The company imports coffee beans from Central American coffee farms and roasts the coffee beans in accordance to the unique characteristics of each of these coffees; Guatemala Huehuetenango, El Salvador Apaneca, Costa Rica Tarrazu and Poas Slopes and Dominican Republic, Jarabacoa. Mr. Moran’s family has been growing coffee in coffee plantations in the Western part of El Salvador for 5 generations. His partner’s grandfather founded the Bendig-Maquinaria S.A. company in 1954 which manufactures machines and equipment for coffee wet/dry milling, roasting and grinding.

Vogue Salon & Spa, Vacaville

Salon and Spa Lauded as ‘Top 3 Percent’

BACKGROUND
Vogue Salon and Spa is an upscale full-service business located in Vacaville, CA. Owner, Danielle Gish started her business in February 2006 after attending NxLeveL^® in the fall of 2005. She financed the building and finished renovating it in the first half of 2006.

Step Up Music, Vallejo

Bridging Business and Talent in Vallejo

BACKGROUND
Ariane Cap was an established musician and recording artist with a long time dream of one day owning and operating a music instruction center and chose to realize that dream by opening Step Up Music in Vallejo.

Music Master Publishing, Vallejo

Dennis Cheatham first approached the Solano College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in 2004 for assistance in determining the feasibility of bringing his Guitar Wheel teaching tool to market. Initially working with Advisor, Jerry Jinnett, Dennis developed h

Plaza Oliver Gas & Food, Fairfield

Plaza Oliver Gas & Food is the newest gas station in Fairfield, CA, and is conveniently located at the corner of Rockville Road and Oliver Road (1009 Oliver Rd.) right off the I-80 Freeway. It has a state-of-the-art car wash, propane fuel dispenser, and a food and beverage center that even features local, Suisun Valley wines. Currently, it is the only station in Fairfield selling biodiesel fuel.

Vintage Caffe, Fairfield

Vintage Caffe is a full service restaurant owned by Gigi and Ray Canepa. The caffe is located in the Suisun Valley in picturesque Mankas Corner, a delightful retail corner surrounded by vineyards and country roads yet only a couple of miles from Fairfield, California. The restaurant has an Italian menu and casual décor. Gigi was a former food buyer and chef for the upscale retail grocer Andronico’s and has brought her passion for quality food and wine to the restaurant which she and Ray purchased. In the fall of 2007, they received the opportunity to expand the business and open a deli and retail outlet that will allow them to expand their catering business while creating local replacement meal and deli clientele. Ray and Gigi approached the City of Fairfield for a bridge loan to complete the funding needed for the project and at the suggestion of the City, began to work with business advisors from the Solano Small business Development Center.

Music Master Publishing, Vallejo

The idea for the Guitar Wheel™ began over 13 years ago as Dennis Cheatham tried to grasp the mystery of music theory. During this learning process, he envisioned a “tool” that would serve as a reference library of music theory and act as a teaching aid, chord finder, transposing dial, and composing tool all in one. It would have one side for guitar and the other side for piano. After many years of balancing family life, his job, and product development, he completed work on his teaching aid; the Guitar Wheel™ was born!

DHurn Enterprises, Suisun

Deanna Hurn’s life is a story of trial and triumph which underlines a compelling message of hope despite obstacles. Her goal was to become an Actuary but an unplanned pregnancy forced her to drop out of school while pursuing a degree in mathematics at Sacramento City College. Determined not to become another statistic, Deanna returned to school, developed a plan of self-discipline to balance school and family, and graduated from SCC in 2004. Having previously been rejected from UC Santa Barbara, Deanna reapplied and went on to become the only African American student at the university to receive a degree in Actuarial Science in 2006. During this time, she realized that she had a deep understanding of math, the ability to tutor others, and empower others in making life changes.

Anacortes Chocolate Factory, Vacaville

COMPANY PROFILE: Mr. Yam approached Solano College SBDC in April 2007 for assistance with writing his business plan to buy an existing business. He previously owned and operated a donut shop for 10 years which he had recently sold. Mr. Yam planned to relocate is family to Anacortes, Washington and buy an existing 20-year-old candy shop. He planned on using the same business model, employees, etc. with the exception of also selling donuts and extending hours to 24/7. He had spoken with the current owner and developed financial projections. Current owners were selling with plans to relocate elsewhere.