What started out as a hobby for Armondo Reyes has become a career.

After working most of his life as a mechanic, Reyes is now the owner of Lake Erie Woodworks.

Reyes makes a living building custom furniture and cabinets.

"I love it, being able to do this full time as a passion and a career,” said Reyes. “Being able to support my family, we're getting busier, a lot of new customers coming in and trying to keep everyone happy, it's been great."

However, the past year and a half has been challenging.

"2020 had a big impact on us,” said Reyes. “We did have to go part time work, during the spring and fall last year, just to kind of pay the bills and keep the lights on."

Reyes was able to secure some financial relief through the Erie Development Authority’s new Diversity Loan Program.

The program offers low-interest loans ranging from $5,000 to $35,000 to small businesses owned by a minorities or women.

"If anything with the pandemic, it exposed a lot of gaps in the system," said Erie Redevelopment Authority Vice President of Capital Finance & Lending Chris Groner. “It's critically important that everyone has access to the type of funding they need to help get their business off the ground."

Reyes will use the $13,000 he received to upgrade his existing equipment.

"I think it's really important to have a program like this, because it really shows that the city and the county are really behind, literally putting their money where their mouth is for minority owned business owners," said Reyes. “It's really opening the doors for minority-owned business owners who typically for generations really have had those funding options either a lot of hurdles, or shut off completely, and the fact that the redevelopment authority is opening that up to minority business owners is fantastic.”

More information on the program is available here.

This story is supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.