SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The dream of starting a business may become more difficult for many immigrants. A new policy from the Small Business Administration will restrict access to its most popular loans to U.S. citizens only. Legal permanent residents were previously eligible for this funding, which is typically used to cover startup costs that include buying real estate and equipment and hiring staff. That will change tomorrow when the new policy goes into effect.
Cristina Foanene emigrated from Romania to the United States 20 years ago, and she's now a U.S. citizen and owner of a glass company in Fresno, California, called MCS Glass. Thanks so much for being with us.
CRISTINA FOANENE: My pleasure to be with you today.
SIMON: Do you have any reaction to this new policy by the Small Business Administration?
FOANENE: My only reaction is, I do not know what's behind that decision taken by the current administration. My business and my husband's business - the fact that we were permanent residents at that time, we had the opportunity to get the loan. But if we would've come to America last year and getting to apply right now, we would've lost this opportunity, and most likely, it would be harder to make our dream a reality.
SIMON: What was your life like in Romania? What brought you to the United States?
FOANENE: It was my husband's dream to come to this beautiful country. He grew up with this wish to discover why America it's so great, and he wasn't wrong. It is an amazing country, and there, we are here.
SIMON: Any idea how many jobs your company has created over the years?
FOANENE: Right now, we are 25 team members, amazing women and men that working with us. It gives us a true happiness that we are able to have this impact in Fresno and hire people that are able to provide for their families.
SIMON: You've installed a lot of glass over the years, haven't you?
FOANENE: We were truly blessed to be part of amazing projects that truly impacted the community, working on house authority projects on multifamily projects, as well as hospitals, church, banks. I believe this is part of the process that at that time, we were able to access SBA loan to expand our business. It help us to hire more people, get larger projects that involved a lot of infrastructure for a glass company. It made us where we are today, literally part of our success.
SIMON: There are conventional bank loans available to green card holders, aren't there?
FOANENE: I believe so. It's just a harder process, and I felt like SBA, they understand better a small business then a big bank will ever understand. For example, our business, we needed to explain to the SBA committee what's happening, why do we want to purchase this building. And they want to make sure you are not just buying a property to buy a property but will bring a benefit to the community, you know, creating more jobs, being able to manufacture more and not just real estate investment.
SIMON: Cristina Foanene of MCS Glass company in Fresno, California. Thanks so much for being with us.
FOANENE: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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