Fitchburg cafe, restaurant and Latinx convenience store loaned $55K

Photo | Courtesy of North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation Fitchburg convenience store Mi Rinconcito Salvadoreno received a $10,000 small business loan from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. Pictured (from left) are Sandie Cataldo, economic development manager at NCMDC; Carmen and Ildefonso Guzman, owners of Mi Rinconcito Salvadoreno; Norman Vigeant, vice president of lending at NCMDC.

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By Monica Benevides

Three small businesses in downtown Fitchburg received loans totaling $55,000 from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp., the development arm of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, the organization announced on Friday.

Recipients include Strong Style Coffee, Bion Greek Kitchen and Mi Rinconcito Salvadoreno, a new Latin American convenience store.

Strong Style, a downtown coffee shop hosting live music, owned and operated by Kimberly Jones, received $25,000, which will be used to refinance business debt. Jones was referred to NCMDC by Fitchburg housing nonprofit NueView Communities, where Jones worked on the financial plan for the loan’s application, according to NCMDC.

Restaurant Bion Greek Kitchen received a $20,000 working capital loan to help cover operating expenses during the pandemic. The restaurant, located on Fitchburg’s Main Street, began in the home of its owners, Gregor and Violet Labovitis, before the pair opened up a brick and mortar shop.

The remaining funds went to Mi Rinconcito Salvadoreno, which opened for business on July 1. The store was started by owner Idelfonso Guzman and his wife Carmen, to help supply reasonably priced Latin American groceries to the region.

NCMDC is a microloan lender for the U.S. Small Business Adminsitration, which can provide loans to small businesses up to $150,000, according to NCMDC. That money may go toward working capital, equipment, inventory, expansion and gap financing.