Edu Music Inc.

Vilma Yel, a professional singer from Peru, moved to the United States in  2000 after working as a kindergarten teacher in Germany for several years.   Unfortunately, when she moved to the U.S., she wasn’t able to find a similar job.   Vilma’s passion for singing and her love for children motivated her to complete a trainining for “Mommy and me” music classes, and she became encouraged  to start teaching the classes herself.
 

After many years of hard work, Ms. Yel now owns Edu Music Inc., a company that offers music enrichment programs to  New York children from the 2^nd to 5^th grades, including special needs children.  As her businesses developed, Vilma needed to record a music CD that would be suitable for her students, but she lacked the resources to do so despite her singing skills strong network of contacts.  Producing a CD was essential, as this would allow her to generate enough working capital for the slower summer season, when her business’s cash flow decreased.  Vilma contacted several financial institutions, but she did not meet their credit criteria. “I felt mistreated, they left me waiting on the phone just to ask me about my credit score, and then they told me that I should increase it before applying” Vilma said.
 

After an exhaustive search, Ms. Yel was referred to NYCfNfAC, an organization that is able to analyze creditworthiness beyond superficial indicators such as credit scores, and understands how  good business concept become good opportunities for the communities served by credit unions.   After a few weeks, Union Settlement Federal Credit Union approved $25,000 loan for Edu Music.  Now, Mrs. Yel feels confident that she will have enough cash to pay her employees and expand her business.
 

Mrs. Yel recommends that other small businesses not lose hope when it comes to the challenges of growing.  Since her loan was approved, she has taken on new contracts and has started to develop her own CD.