CU's partnership provides capital to business hurt by Katrina

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (11/22/06)--A partnership between ACCION USA and Hope Community CU has provided backup funding to keep a small Bay St. Louis, Miss., business running.

Billy Boy Arceneaux is a fourth-generation crab-net maker in Hancock County. He lost everything--including his prosthetic leg--in Hurricane Katrina last year.

To help Arceneaux's business get back on track, state and local officials helped acquire a contract with Wal-Mart for his crab nets (PR Newswire Nov. 20).

Wal-Mart contracted Arceneaux for thousands of his nets to be sold at the mass retailer--a significant jump from his sales at small stores in Hancock County.

The problem was Arceneaux didn't have the capital to fund the venture that could get him back up and working.

ACCION USA and Hope Community CU, Jackson, Miss., provided a recovery loan through its Back to Business Loan Fund so he could purchase additional wire, webbing and bags.

Arceneaux can make more than four dozen crab nets per hour and does so from his Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer.

The Back to Business Loan Fund offers eligible business owners loans from $2,000 to $25,000 at 8% interest for two to 60 months, including three months of interest-only payments.

It previously provided a $10,000 loan to David DeSean so he could purchase a car, a taxi meter and license for his taxi business in Gulfport and Biloxi (News Now Oct. 9).

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