MEDC OK’s loan for new Oasis Coffee site
Oasis Coffee Service and Oasis Vending Service will use a $112,000 loan from the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) to help finance development of its new location in the city’s Bay View neighborhood.
The MEDC Loan Committee approved the loan, and four others, at its May 5 meeting.
Oasis owner Cathy Rohde is purchasing and renovating a 9,578-square-foot warehouse and office building at 300 E. Bay St. – the corner of Bay and Kinnickinnic Avenue. The company had been on Fairview Avenue on Milwaukee’s west side.
The business provides commercial coffee makers and sells coffee supplies to companies in throughout metropolitan Milwaukee. It employs two people full-time and four part-time.
Ozaukee Bank is providing an additional $243,000 in financing for the projects.
The MEDC Loan Committee also approved a $290,000 loan for FS Enterprises which plans to purchase a building in Milwaukee’s Riverworks industrial area for a American Auto Beauty Carstar business.
Ferdinand and Susan Jones own the company and currently operate American Auto Beauty Carstar at 2108 N. Farwell Ave. on the city’s east side. They plan to purchase a building at 3866-3870 N. Fratney St. which has 6,360 square feet of office space and 33,372 square feet of warehouse space.
The company would occupy 20,585 square feet of the building, with the remaining space occupied by Absolute Custom Extrusions, a current tenant.
American Auto Beauty Carstar now employs 12 people full-time and one part-time. It would add six full-time employees at the new site.
M&I Bank will finance $362,500 for the move while the Joneses will use another $72,500 in equity financing.
A loan of $49,000 was approved for The Soup Market of 189 N. Milwaukee St. The Soup Market is a new business formed to continue the operations of The Soup Kitchen, a soup wholesale and retail business started in 1999 by David Jurena. Jurena sold his products at local farmers markets and to several coffee shops and cafes in the area. He was leasing food preparation space from Bella Luna Pasta when that business was sold, leading to the loss of his lease for manufacturing space.
Bella Caffe owners Tim Talsky and Jim Nowlen plan to reopen The Soup Kitchen under the new name The Soup Market, in rented space in Bay View.
The Soup Market will sell made-from-scratch soups, stews and chilis through wholesale accounts, through its retail location at 2211 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., through farmers markets and at special events.
The business will use a $74,000 Park Bank loan in addition to its MEDC financing.
In other action, the MEDC Loan Committee approved a $53,660 loan for Maddie Turner Sr., who operates Ebony Man’s World Hair Salon I and II. He plans to buy a 5,440-square-foot building at 7526 W. Appleton Ave. in Milwaukee for a third location. The hair salon would occupy the first floor and basement while offices on the second level would be rented out.
Ebony Man’s World Hair Salon I, which is now owned and operated by Turner’s son, is at 3517 W. Townsend St. while Ebony Man’s World Hair Salon II is at 4476 N. 60th St.
Turner will use a $153,000 loan from Columbia Savings & Loan in addition to the MEDC financing.
The MEDC Loan committee also approved a $60,000 loan for KRP Development Corp. to purchase property at 3002-08 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in Milwaukee. The corporation, formed by Paul Kharouf and Casey Dembowick, will buy the property, which includes an 18,350-square-foot building.
Riverwest Engineering, of which Dembowick is part-owner, will occupy half of the building. The company now employs two people full-time and one part-time. It plans to hire three more full-time employees and two more part-time workers.
Continental Savings Bank is providing $75,000 in financing for the project, while another $15,000 in equity capital is being applied.
May 16, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
