“This is my dream business in my ideal location and it wouldn’t have been possible without the SBA 504 loan and TMC’s help,” says Nicole Wolfer, co-owner of The Old Schoolhouse event estate in Newberg, OR. Along with her husband, James, and her parents, Randy and Beth Bailey, they’re optimizing the property’s beauty, history, and versatility to host weddings and other events in Willamette Valley.
Here’s how TMC Financing, in partnership with Key Bank, helped Nicole secure SBA 504 financing to create the business she envisioned.
Realizing a long-held dream
Before committing to an event-management business complete with its own property, Nicole spent more than a decade in the industry, creating and managing weddings, non-profit fundraisers, corporate conferences, and everything in between.
“While I had a lot of great experiences, there were many times when the venues we rented fell short in terms of services or quality. I imagined what I’d do differently and what my ideal venue would be – and I realized that I wanted my own business and property,” Nicole explains.
She found everything she hoped for and more in The Old Schoolhouse. It includes a 1928 school house with capacity for 130 for a seated dinner reception, as well as an orchard and gardens for ceremonies, cocktails, post-dinner gatherings, and more – all surrounded by beautiful vineyards and mountains. In addition, the buildings underwent full renovation in 2014, so this turnkey property only needed Nicole’s personal touches to be ready for business.
Securing the perfect property takes the right financing
While finding the property was the first challenge, the second was to secure the right financing.
“As I researched loans and talked to banks, I realized that a commercial mortgage from a bank was going to be out of reach,” Nicole admits. This is due to the high owner down-payment – typically 30-40% or more – and shorter repayment terms (typically 10 years for commercial mortgages). By comparison, SBA 504 loans require just a 10% down payment for most deals (or up to 15% for some single-use properties and/or new businesses), with terms up to 25 years to make repayment easier.
“I’d read about SBA programs and reached out to some banks. Jennifer Fern-Peterson from Key Bank was great. She explained the program and how SBA 504s are made in partnership with a CDC and she recommended TMC Financing to partner on the purchase.” CDCs are certified development companies that work in conjunction with banks to provide funding for small businesses, including administering SBA 504 loans.
The SBA 504 loan and TMC make dreams a reality
TMC Business Development Officer Anna O’Brien worked with Nicole and The Old Schoolhouse team to secure financing. Startup businesses, like Nicole’s, can have a particularly difficult time securing a loan – but not with TMC. In this case, as a new business, TMC was able to make the deal work with a 15% down payment toward the $1.4 million property.
“The loan process itself is demanding in that there’s a lot of paperwork and with multiple owners, it was a lot to coordinate but, really, that’s just logistics,” says Nicole. As a successful event manager, she has the skills and talents to see that through.
When they did run into some challenges, she says, “TMC was great. When something came up, Anna and our TMC team dealt with the issues. We always knew that TMC was in our corner and they worked really well with the bank on our behalf. Overall, it was a great experience.”
“It’s hard for new businesses to secure bank financing, particularly when it involves real estate purchases,” says Anna. “But when small business owners work with TMC, you gain an experienced partner who can leverage the SBA 504 program and our relationships with banks, like Key Bank, to bring these deals to fruition – and that’s when business dreams come true. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to do this for Nicole and The Old Schoolhouse team.”
Nicole and her partners closed on the purchase on January 28, 2025, and hosted their first event just a few days later.
“Now, our goal is to get be fully booked, with a primary focus on weddings,” Nicole says.
TMC Financing and the SBA 504 program: Don’t wait to launch your dream
“If I could do one thing differently,” Nicole says, “it would be to contact TMC from the start. That’s why I’m telling everyone that owns a business to get in touch with them. They want you to succeed and you may get a ‘yes,’ too!”
If your business is located in TMC’s service area of California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Oregon, contact us to get started. If your business is located outside of our service area, try the SBA’s Lender Match tool to find a qualified certified development company (CDC) lending partner near you.