ILGP Borrower Success Story: Coyote Valley Convenience Store

Type of Service: Loan Guarantee
Lender: Pinnacle Bank
Project: Convenience Store
Financing Amount: $6,000,000
Location: Redwood, CA

The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians have overcome many setbacks in their long history; termination in 1957 being one of the biggest setbacks. Now the band is capitalizing on years of planning and development to improve their local economy. The several businesses that have come to fruition are a sign of their strong resiliency. The most recent of those successful economic endeavors is the Coyote Valley Convenience store.

The convenience store is in a prime location near highway 101 located in the Redwood Valley of Northern California. The band is capitalizing on tax incentives and revenue from the store.

“Our community has been excited to see the businesses develop on our reservation,” Tribal Chairman Michael Hunter said. “Our people and the surrounding communities were very excited to see the beautiful facility that has been built here. We offer competitive prices and products and continually receive positive compliments on the store.”

The convenience store continues to do well each month since its opening and employs up to 20 full-time employees. Now the tribe is considering an RV park and possibly a new hotel.

“The highlight of establishing this business has been the positive morale it has brought to the community,” Tribal Chairman Hunter said. “I have noticed that the tribal council is constantly evaluating how to improve what we have.”

“The [Division of Capital Investment] staff was very helpful during the entire process. We couldn’t have been able to make this happen without the loan guarantee program.”