After ten years of perfecting the award-winning Nova Café in downtown Bozeman, Serena Rundberg was ready to create another gathering place, this time on the west end of Main Street. So, in the spring of 2014, she began meeting with Amanda Schultz of Prospera Business Network’s Montana Women’s Business Center to fine tune her business plan for a new venture: Feed Café.
A few months and many rounds of revisions later, Serena was ready to pursue financing to make her carefully assembled business plan a reality. She continued working with Prospera while preparing her loan request with First Security Bank, and was able to secure a loan to cover the majority of the project costs. However, Serena needed additional capital to cover leasehold improvements, equipment and working capital. Enter Prospera’s Bozeman Revolving Loan Fund financing: Serena says that without this critical final piece, opening Feed Café would not have been possible. After a whirlwind of construction, menu design, hiring and training, Feed Café was on track to open in the spring of 2015.