Gabriela Murguia was born and raised in Zamora Michoacán and comes from a family of merchants. When she was 29 she moved to Ontario, California but found it difficult to find viable work. She moved to Delano, and worked in the fields picking grapes, and in restaurants and a gas station to sustain her family. After a lot of hard work and dedication, she was promoted to full time at the gas station, with benefits and better pay. Meanwhile, she was preparing herself for the field she liked most – sales!
Category: Central Valley
Jatinder Mann, Tranquility Market
A loan from Fresno CDFI in 2014 helped Jatinder Mann purchase the store that he had been leasing for the previous nine years.
Bertha Magaña, Magaña Farms
Bertha Magaña had experience as a farmworker and good credit, but struggled to find the financing she needed to support her 7 acre organic farm. California FarmLink helped her find over $70,000 in loans to expand her business, and ALBA helped get her vegetables into stores.
Christy & Al Kroell, ChristyAl Plaques
Thanks to training from an SBA SCORE chapter and a timely loan from Fresno CDFI, veterans Christy and Al Kroell were able to purchase the laser engraver they needed to launch their small business.
Suely Ngouy, Woman for Woman
Suely Ngouy’s Central Valley business was able to secure the licenses and permits they needed to operate as a social enterprise serving Cambodian-American women thanks to help from PACE.
John Falcon, Falcon Builders
Falcon Builders has 10 employees. John is known as the “go-to” person on government contracting issues and is a leader in his local Disabled Veteran’s organization. He received vital training from CAMEO member Central Valley Business Incubator.
Chai Lee, Chai’s Cleaning Service
Escaping the harsh realities of life in a refugee camp was a victory for Chai and his family, but he had to re-build his life. Chai liked the idea of owning a business. He had no credit history and very little collateral, but wanted to buy a janitorial franchise. Because of an $8,000 loan and training from Fresno CDFI, Chai Lee was able to realize his dream of running his own business.