Testimonials

El Paso Small Business Development Center promotes growth, expansion, innovation, increased productivity, and improvement of small businesses, as well as supporting entrepreneurs in the counties of El Paso and Hudspeth in far West Texas. Below are a few of the business people we have assisted over the years of service.

Belt Con Construction Company El Paso, TX When Raymundo Beltran raised his five sons in the Lower Valley, little did the brick mason realize that they would all grow up to become important players in the El Paso construction industry. Raymundo Jr., 49, owner of Belt Con Construction Co., is the masonry contractor for the new Texas Tech regional research center on Alameda Avenue. His recently expanded company is now competing for major construction jobs throughout West Texas and Southern New Mexico. Excerpts of El Paso Times News Article by Ken Flynn Saturday, January 8, 2005

Cottman Transmission Center El Paso, TX Engineer Leaves Delphi for Own Company. In June 2004, Eric Jaquez, 34, became owner and president of Cottman Transmission Center, a franchisee of Cottman Tranission Systems, Inc., a well know national francise. His love of mechanics helped him make a decision to leave Delphi and purchase the Cottman Transmission Center, an existing business that provides transmission repair services in El Paso and the surrounding area. (News Article, El Paso Times, September 3, 2004, By Ken Flynn, Reporter.)

Henry Benning & Associates El Paso, TX When Henry Benning renovated a tenant's office in a El Paso downtown bank in 1987, he never dreamed he would be building a construction company that handles major contracts througout the Western United States. Today, the company is licensed to operate in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Wyoming Louisiana, Utah, Nevada, Tennessee and Missouri. United Bank of El Paso Del Norte, the Small Business Development Center at El Paso Community College, and the U. S. Small Business Administration assisted Mr. Benning secure a working capital/expansion loan. The expansion project also created 8 new jobs for the company.

Rudy Flores, Grill'n & Chill'n El Paso, TX When former pharmaceutical salesman Rudy Flores traveled to the West Coast, he saw stores dedicated to the culture of barbecuing -- grills of all kinds, outdoor grilling tools and cookbooks. Now an entrepreneur, Flores has opened his own venture in El Paso -- Grill'n & Chill'n BBQs and More, at 10961 Gateway West.

Texas Technology El Paso, TX Texas Technology was started in 1999 and is owned by Nivedita Srivastava. The company maufactures electrical and electronic parts for the electronics industries. "The secret of staying competitive is to use advanced techniques to produce a high-quality product, says Ms. Srivastava."

Carnitas Tio Juan El Paso, TX Juan Gastelum enjoyed working and experimenting in the kitchen at a very young age. He dreamed of some day owning a restaurant that he could proudly call his own. "We did not know what to do to start our own business even though our relatives were business owners. Our dream of owning our own restaurant would not have become a reality fi it had not been for the assistance of Ms. Tavarez at the Small Business Development Center. Ms. Tavarez was very patient with us. She took the time to explain in detail over and over again what we needed to get done. She helped us make our dream come true and was there with us, every step of the way."--Juan and Hilda Gastelum, Proud Owners of Carnitas Tio Juan

El Sarape Café, El Paso, TX Mercedes and Luis Tarango worked in the restaurant business for over 17 years, assisting other owners in starting and managing their restaurants. After years of dreaming of owning their own property for their restaurant, they finally got the opportunity in November 2002.

Fast Lube, Inc. El Paso, TX Keeping vehicles well oiled and motors purring has been the aim of a Lower Valley family whose company has been around for 20 years. Now the Marquez family company has expanded into its own building at 7922 North Loop Drive. --Story featured in the El Paso Times on March 18,2005

Porter Corporate Interiors El Paso, TX "The SBDC understood our dream and helped us to realize it. The SBA loan enabled us to open our new office in the Union Plaza District of downtown which is in the HUBZone and Empowerment Zone."--Amy Porter, President, Porter Corporate Interiors"

RSZ Enterprises, Inc., DBA Grease Monkey, El Paso, TX Starting and staying in business is no monkey business. If you don’t believe that, ask Ricardo Zesati, who became an entrepreneur at a relatively young age. “I started selling trailers at 19” says Zesati, who also partners in a trucking company that services vast areas of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.