Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corporation
Port Washington, Wisconsin

With the help of four SBA loans from 1979-1989, John Stollenwerk and three partners bought and started retooling and modernizing the shoe company, founded in 1922. Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corporation has since grown to employ 750 people and is a recognized leader in the men's quality shoe market with distribution nationwide at 42 Allen-Edmonds stores and overseas to 33 countries.

Alvarado Construction, Inc.
Denver, Colorado

Alvarado Construction has contracted, designed and built commercial projects throughout the United States and Mexico. Linda Alvarado started the business in 1976 and received an SBA loan and business development assistance through the SBA's 8(a) program. She is also the first Hispanic part-owner of a major league baseball franchise, the Colorado Rockies.

America Online, Inc.
Dulles, Virginia

“You've got mail,” one of the most recognized phrases in the World Wide Web, is the calling card of America Online. AOL was founded in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services and received more than $1.2 million in assistance from the SBA through 1987 to provide online services to the then emerging market of personal computer users.

Black Enterprise Magazine
New York, New York

Founded in 1970 as a business service resource for African-American entrepreneurs and professionals, Black Enterprise has become the publication of record for black business and economic development. With help from the SBA, founder Earl G. Graves created a vehicle to help African-Americans to participate in the free enterprise system.

Callaway Golf Company
Carlsbad, California

Ely Callaway believed he could make a better golf club, so in 1982, at 63, he invested $400,000 from his own savings to buy a small company that made golf clubs. When two SBA-licensed SBICs invested in the company in 1985, Callaway Golf employed four people. Today, it has more than 2,300 employees and revenues of nearly $800 million.

Cerner Corporation
Kansas City, Missouri

Founded in 1979, Cerner is the leading supplier of systems designed to improve the nation's health care by taking the paper chart out of the medical record-keeping process and adopting highly automated, intelligent information systems. The SBA provided loan and venture capital financing at critical points in the company's development.

El Dorado Furniture
Opa Locka, Florida

Manuel Capó and his family fled Cuba in 1966. Settling in Miami, the family wasted little time returning to what they knew best, manufacturing furniture. A $10,000 loan from the SBA in 1967 financed the family's first store, named after the boat that freed the Capó's, El Dorado. It is the largest Hispanic-owned furniture business in the U.S.

Eskimo Joe's
Stillwater, OK

From a small store near the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater in 1975, Eskimo Joe's has grown to employ 600 people, operating four restaurants, three retail clothing stores, and several other businesses. An SBA loan helped the company grow and expand to the Eskimo Joe's that exists today.

FedEx Corporation
Memphis, Tennessee

The idea for an overnight shipping company delivering packages anywhere in the U.S. first appeared in a term paper by Yale undergraduate student Fred Smith. In 1973 Smith brought his idea to life with the help of $3.8 million in start-up financing from five SBA licensed SBICs. Today “FedEx” is a verb synonymous with express delivery.

General Mills, Inc. for the Totino's Pizza Brand
Minneapolis, Minneapolis

In 1951 James and Rose Totino opened a small shop in Minneapolis to sell homemade pizzas to takeout customers. In 1962, the SBA approved a $50,000 loan for equipment needed to make frozen pizzas, launching Totino's Pizza and a multi-million dollar industry. In 1975, Totino's Pizza was acquired by Pillsbury, a division of General Mills.

Hewlett-Packard Company
Palo Alto, California

Few envisioned the potential behind a small business formed by two Stanford University classmates in 1939, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. The 2002 merger of HP and Compaq Computer Corp. – another former small business that received its initial funding from the SBA – forged a dynamic and powerful company of 140,000 employees in 178 countries.

Intel Corporation
Santa Clara, California

In 1969 Intel had been in existence about a year, employed 218 people and had less than $566,000 in gross revenues. The company needed capital when an SBA-licensed SBIC invested about $300,000 in Intel in exchange for capital stock. In 1971, Intel went on to produce the 4004, the first microprocessor, paving the way for the personal computer.

Jenny Craig, Inc.
Carlsbad, California

The Jenny Craig Program has helped more than 10 million people with weight loss management since it was founded by Sid and Jenny Craig in 1983. An SBA-licensed SBIC provided $9 million in financing for the company, which employs about 3,000 and has both an in-home program, Jenny Direct, and 650 centers in the U.S. and around the world.

Manufacturing Technology, Inc.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida

A first-generation immigrant from Taiwan, Paul S. Hsu overcame many obstacles, including a new language. His tenacity, ingenuity and hard work, combined with financial and technical assistance from the SBA, helped him develop a diversified technology company for military and aerospace products, employing 450 people worldwide.

Outback Steakhouse, Inc.
Tampa, Florida

In 1990 Outback Steakhouse had been in business two and a-half years in Florida when the SBA and a North Carolina-based SBIC provided $151,000 in working capital. The investment helped the company build one of the most successful restaurant chains in the country with more than 1,000 restaurants and $2.9 billion in sales worldwide.

Panda Restaurant Group, Inc.
Rosemead, California

One of the largest family-owned businesses in the nation with more than 500 restaurants started in 1973 with a $25,000 loan from the SBA for the Panda Inn in Pasadena, Calif. Andrew Cherng's father, Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng, developed many of the original recipes that are still featured today in Panda Express restaurants around the world.

Radio One, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland

Broadcasting primarily to African-American and urban listeners, Radio One was founded in 1980. With the help of SBIC financial assistance, Radio One has become one of the largest radio broadcasting companies in the U.S., owning and/or operating 66 stations in 22 markets and programming five channels on the XM Satellite Radio system.

Ruiz Foods
Tulare, California

In 1964, Louis Ruiz and his son, Fred, began living out their dream of selling frozen authentic Mexican food. Beginning in a small warehouse, father and son met the challenge of growing demand with hard work, determination, and the financial assistance of the SBA, becoming the largest manufacturer of frozen Mexican food in the U.S.

Staples, Inc.
Framingham, Massachusetts

From one store in 1986, Staples has become the country's largest operator of office superstores. When the company was looking to expand in 1987, SBA provided $1.5 million in equity financing. By May 1987, the number of employees had grown to 204 and gross revenues to $9 million. Today Staples employs 58,000 and sells $11.6 billion in products and services.

Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Burlingame, California

A small investment of $30,000 by an SBA-licensed venture capital company during Sun Microsystems' infancy was part of a larger financing package that built a company earning more than $12.5 billion annually and employing 35,000 worldwide. Sun Microsystems provides products and services for building and maintaining computer networks.

The Gymboree Corporation
Burlingame, California

In 1976, Joan Barnes tried to find a safe, fun and nurturing place for new parents and children to play and exercise together. Unable to do so she started her own. Gymboree Play Programs is devoted to children's physical, emotional and social development. SBA venture capital financing of nearly $5 million helped launch the company's clothing line in the mid 1980s.

Winnebago Industries, Inc.
Forest City, Iowa

Beginning with just 17 employees in 1958 working out of a small storefront in downtown Forest City, Iowa, Winnebago Industries has grown to become the leading U.S. manufacturer of motor homes, employing 3,700 employees nationwide. The SBA was instrumental in the company's growth providing financing in 1960 and 1965.

Yoshida Group.
Portland, Oregon

A "secret family recipe" for a teriyaki-style gourmet marinade cooked on Junki and Linda Yoshida's kitchen stove more than 20 years ago is the prime ingredient for Yoshida Group. Two $75,000 SBA loans helped the company grow and develop its unusual concoction of 17 diverse businesses, from snowboards to dipping sauce and Pacific Northwest art.