Za Nei Thuai, also known as Suipi, is the owner of Suipi's East End Eatery, a Burmese restaurant based in Battle Creek, MI.
Michigan Entrepreneur Renovates Building for Burmese Restaurant with CDFI Support
Client: Suipi's East End Eatery
Client Location: Battle Creek, MI
CDFI: Northern Initiatives
CDFI Service Area: MI, WI
Small business financing and technical assistance
In Battle Creek, Michigan, where Za Nei Thuai lives, most of the city’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is Burmese due to decades of immigration. A Burmese refugee, Za Nei Thuai, known as Suipi (pronounced Swee-Pee), immigrated to Battle Creek in 2013, where she worked in a factory and joined the extended family of Burmese residents there.
Soon, Suipi became known for her catering skills, having realized her love for cooking when she was only four years old. In 2017, she bought a building that housed a former diner to start her restaurant, Suipi’s East End Eatery. What she thought was the end game was just the beginning.
When the City of Battle Creek inspected Suipi’s building and found it needed major improvements, John Hart, the city’s Development Director of Small Business Development, asked her if she had funding.
“I didn’t want to take a loan,” Suipi said, “but this was my dream since I was young.” Hence, to keep working on her restaurant, she needed help. That led to an introduction to OFN member Northern Initiatives, a community development financial institution (CDFI) serving Michigan’s minority communities and areas of persistent poverty.
CDFIs Foster Resilient and Sustainable Communities
As the City of Battle Creek, Northern Initiatives, the Burma Center, and others worked with Suipi, they began to understand the barriers and the types of support Burmese American entrepreneurs needed.
“She [Suipi] thought running a business was going to be as simple as how it was back in Burma; as soon as you can occupy a building, then you can be up and running,” Northern Initiatives Business Coach Jenny Mualhlun said. “She didn’t know anything about the building codes, the health department requirements, all those things. It is an old building; it needed a lot of improvement.”
Jenny is a Burmese American who came to the U.S. when she was 12 and was among those helping Suipi, even before she worked for the CDFI. “The business plan was not easy,” Jenny recalled. “Talking about yourself is not part of our [the Burmese] culture.”
Suipi wanted to work hard, save money, and purchase everything she needed for her business without a credit card. “She never had a credit card,” Jenny said.
An SBA Community Advantage loan, using funds from the Battle Creek Small Business Loan Fund, helped Suipi refinance the land contract and get to work on improvements. The loan took longer than usual to close, as everyone worked through language barriers, supply chain issues, equipment shortages, the theft of an air-conditioning unit, and the rising costs of everything.
“Things took so long that her business model ended up changing,” Northern Initiatives Commercial Lender Kellie Hoffman said. “She was originally going to open an American-style diner, but now she’s serving delicious Burmese food,” where she regularly caters for 1,000+ people.
Supportive Networks for Minority Entrepreneurs in Battle Creek, Michigan
As the fastest-growing minority group in the nation, more than 2 million small businesses are AAPI-owned according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For many, entrepreneurship is more than just a way to make a living — it’s a vital pathway to financial stability and success, leading to dreams realized and futures transformed.
However, like many other minority business owners, AAPI entrepreneurs face numerous challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. This includes job losses and business closures, coupled with language barriers and limited access to loans and other capital that further restrict their ability to secure financial support for their projects.
By providing safe and responsible financing when banks won’t or can’t lend, CDFIs help minority entrepreneurs survive and thrive. Through 2022, OFN member CDFI financing and support led to the creation or maintenance of more than 850,000 businesses and microenterprises.
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