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504 Loan Program Helps Daycare Franchise Grow

Jun 2012

Johnny and Catherine Lee were born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, and have been life long residents. They live with their three daughters, ages 6, 12 and 16, and truly love calling Tallahassee home. As parents highly involved in their children's growth and development, the Lee's became very interested in opportunities and venues which would offer them a quality experience. This led to their interest in owning a pre-school.

To help fulfill their dream, the Lee's turned to Florida First Capital and the 504 loan program last year to help finance their Growing Room franchises in Tallahassee. They recently opened their third location, a 14,000 square foot, $4 million facility, again with 504 loan financing provided by FFCFC.

The Growing Room has filled an important niche in the Tallahassee and Leon County area by providing high quality education and care for children as young as 6 weeks old. The franchise has already created 100 jobs, and has helped Leon County's unemployment rate remain lower than Florida and national averages.

Growing Room Tallahassee was also awarded the best “Pre-School” and best “Early Childhood Development Center” in the 2012 Tally Awards. These awards were an honor to the Growing Room and the efforts it puts forth to continue to provide a warm and nurturing environment for families, raising the bar in early childhood development.

“This is the type of project that benefits the entire community by offering parents a diverse range of quality choices for daycare and education,” said James Hosman, Florida First Capital Vice President and Loan Officer for the Northwest and Florida Panhandle. “We are proud to have worked with the Lee's to help them secure below-market, long-term, fixed rate financing to serve this important need in the community,” he said.

There are three main levels of enrollment in the Growing Room: full-time child day care, before and after school care and part-time and drop-ins. Transportation is provided to and from public and private schools in the area for those children in the before and after school programs.

The child development center utilizes the "Growing Up on Our Block" curriculum, which is a structured, language based curriculum that includes a wide range of concepts that promote children's growth. Each center is designed to look like a typical town block replete with a bakery, post office, sweet shop, etc. Hallways resemble a marked road that children travel to their next destination.

The center also provides school-age children assistance with homework, as well, as an opportunity to improve reading, science, math, and social skills. Additional services such as dance, Spanish and athletic camps will also be offered. In addition, services such as the Night Owl program will be offered as well. This type of service allows for parents to leave their children in the evening so they will not have to hire a babysitter.

Growing Room Tallahassee is a franchise of Growing Room USA, the Small Business of the Year in 2004. Founded in 1988 in Columbus, Georgia by Sheree Mitchell, R.N., Growing Room has a 20-year track record of raising the bar in child development and care.

Visit the Growing Room at http://growingroomchildcare.com/.

For more information about SBA 504 loans in Florida, contact Florida First Capital by visiting www.ffcfc.com, emailing at info@ffcfc.com or calling 888.320.5504.