NEW ORLEANS, July 27, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Chauvin had been operating La Thai Uptown out of a leased building in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, for 2 ½ years when she decided it was time to buy the building.
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Ms. Chauvin's family has been in the restaurant business for decades, but they'd always leased their restaurant space. "We put so much money into 20 years of leasing that we could have bought the building three times over. It was a no brainer," Ms. Chauvin said of her decision to purchase the building at 4938 Prytania Street.
Ms. Chauvin contacted her banker, Brice Howard, at Bank of New Orleans about obtaining a loan to buy the building. Mr. Howard told Ms. Chauvin about a program through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) that offered grants to qualifying small businesses, and she decided to go for it.
Ms. Chauvin was able to obtain a loan from Bank of New Orleans, funded through FHLB Dallas's Economic Development Program (EDP), and qualify for an accompanying $25,000 EDPPlus grant, which she used toward the renovation and updating of her 3,000-square-foot restaurant, which includes a bar area and meeting and banquet space. The loan was used toward the purchase of her building, machinery and equipment purchases and closing costs associated with the purchase.
"We used the grant for building renovations and updating. The grant really helped," she said. "I think it shows businesses in New Orleans that banks are willing to give back. It's been really tough for small businesses, first with Katrina, now with the oil spill."
FHLB Dallas's EDP provides favorably priced advances to FHLB Dallas member institutions to support economic development and community revitalization projects that qualify by location, income, or consumer demographics. If a member institution is approved for an EDP advance, the member's customer may then be eligible for an accompanying EDPPlus grant. EDPPlus grants are noncompetitive and available on a first-come, first-served basis to promote and enhance small business development in underserved areas or to underserved populations. FHLB Dallas has awarded $1 million in EDPPlus grants in 2010 through its member institutions.
"As a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, Bank of New Orleans is proud to help small businesses by way of an EDPPlus grant," said Bank of New Orleans President and CEO Lawrence J. LeBon. "It is local projects such as Ms. Chauvin's that help create jobs and foster the economic development of the region."
The added help from Ms. Chauvin's banker, Mr. Howard, made the process of obtaining the grant seem effortless.
"Mr. Howard worked hand in hand with me," she said. "Once we got everything going, he went the distance for me, for sure. He made the bank part really easy."
Now, not only is Ms. Chauvin the owner of her building, she has three tenants inside the building that lease space from her. Ms. Chauvin describes La Thai Uptown as a "swanky, cool place." The restaurant has grown to about 20 employees and along with their popular Pad Thai and Mama's Hot and Sour Soup, the restaurant also serves up such signature dishes as its Crab Three Way and Filet Diana. Ms. Chauvin also says she wants La Thai Uptown to be more than just a place people come to eat.
"In this hard economy and in these hard times in New Orleans we want to keep people entertained and happy," she said. On Friday nights Ms. Chauvin often brings in a deejay, on other nights there is a guitarist, and Tuesdays are social nights.
Ms. Chauvin serves as the executive chef and co-owner of the restaurant. Her brother, Marlin Chauvin, is also a chef at the restaurant. Ms. Chauvin was raised in the restaurant business. Her mother, Pannee Varnishung, a native of Thailand, opened her first Thai restaurant in 1978 in Gretna, Louisiana. Over the years, the family has operated several restaurants, including their most popular, Bangkok Cuisine. But after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the family was left with only one restaurant – La Thai Cuisine. The family operated La Thai Cuisine, the predecessor to La Thai Uptown, until it closed in November 2007 when the lease expired.
"We lost our lease there. We were there almost 10 years and we lost our lease," Ms. Chauvin said. "One door closed and another one opened. Now, after all my mom's hard work, we finally own our building. "
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 12 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $58.7 billion as of March 31, 2010, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to more than 900 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. For more information, visit the FHLB Dallas web site at fhlb.com.
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