About - Community Futures Highwood

Overall Feedback:

Our experience with Community Futures Highwood has been excellent from start to finish. Initial Interview: At the initial interview all information and details were clearly laid out for us. No elaborate promises were made but all options were clearly stated. Ursula was very kind, professional and caring. Timing: We just did a walk-in with no appointment. We were seen immediately and the meeting lasted about half an hour.First documentation: Our first set of documents arrived via email and we had to create a complete business plan. It seemed overwhelming at first, but whenever we had a question, Ursula was ready with an answer. She was always friendly and professional and right on task with many helpful links and suggestions.Timing: We received the documentation within 24 hours of our initial meeting. It took us about 6 months to complete the business plan and market research. We did not spend dedicated time on this. If we had it would have been much faster.Projections: The cashflow projections were the second task. We learned so much from this step. We were given several different ways of looking at our business, planning for the future, cost cutting and distributing cashflow. This step alone was invaluable to our business and I can't thank you enough for all the endless hours of help.Timing: As soon as our business plan was completed we received the projections sheet. We spent quite a bit of dedicated time on this and it took us 2 months to complete. Final Stages: After our loan was approved we went through several phone calls and emails per day to get all the paperwork, lawyers and fine print handled. It was a long process with several iterations of explanations, registrations, etc. and yet the service was consistent and professional right to the end. Timing: From the moment our loan was approved (which took 10 days from the time we handed in our financial projections) until the time that we received our loan payment it was 2 months. I want to thank Community Futures Highwood and Ursula in particular for the hard work and assistance you provided us over the past year. Even though we are an established business and growing every year, you have helped us grow up and implement successful strategies and infrastructure to reach the next level in our business. Warm Regards,Annanie and MattForever Bee