Atlanta Transportation Business Gets Back Into Gear with CDFI Resources
Client: Amia Guild, owner of Takes a Village Transportation
Client Location: Atlanta, GA
CDFI: Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE)
CDFI Service Area: GA
Financing and technical assistance, with support from Wells Fargo Diverse Community Capital Program
As a mother of four navigating Atlanta rush hour, Amia Guild understood the challenges of transportation. Knowing that other families like hers needed safe, reliable transportation, she opened Takes a Village Transportation. With the help of a loan from Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) in 2017, Amia proceeded to build her business successfully — until COVID-19 came along. Forced to halt operations at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, and with most schools still continuing with remote learning five months later, Amia turned again to ACE for support.
With no option other than to pivot to new technologies, she revamped her offerings to provide service on demand for children, which will be transformational for the communities in Atlanta and beyond. She also completed a diverse supplier certification, which made it possible for her to become a preferred vendor with Atlanta Childcare Services and acquire a new contract to support essential workers. These shifts, plus bookkeeping resources, a business assessment, use of ACE’s Initiate business development tool, and four months of ACE loan payment deferments followed by six months of forgiveness have stabilized her business and put it into driving gear again.
“The bank wouldn’t help me with capital, but ACE would. It was so much more than capital, though,” Amia said. “I believe I was called by God to help families with children, and ACE is enabling me to do that.”