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Sister Sky - Craft3
7th
August
2013
Spokane, WA

A Northwest Native Success Story

August 7, 2013

Client: Monica Gutierrez-Simeon and Marina Gutierrez-TurningRobe, owners of Sister Sky

Client Location: Spokane, WA

CDFI: Craft3

CDFI Service Area: Washington

CDFI Services Provided: 

Financing

Financial and Social Impact

  • Expanded business into expansion into casinos and hotels

When Monica Gutierrez-Simeon and Marina Gutierrez-TurningRobe tried to get a loan in 2011 to expand Sister Sky, their natural bath-products business, they were turned down.

Craft3―an Oregon- and Washington-based CDFI―stepped into the void with a $300,000 loan that helped the sisters capitalize on an upgraded business plan and push their products into regional casinos and hotels.

They had a strong following already after two years of business built around high-quality products infused with herbs and informed by Native tradition. The Spokane-based company touts itself as the maker of the only personal-care product line approved by the Intertribal Agriculture Council to use the phrase “Made by American Indians.” But their market wasn’t as big as it could have been, and a loan gave them the lift they needed to expand.

The result is in line with Craft3’s core mission: To strengthen economic, ecological, and family resilience in Pacific Northwest communities.

Tags: Native, Small Business, Workforce Development

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