Bright Beginnings Christian Center
Owner: Debra Magnus
Lending Partner: First Citizens
Location: Goldsboro (Wayne County)
Project: Purchase of two 2,000 sq ft. facilities
Community Impact: Rural area, four new jobs created and 16 retained
Company Mission: Meet the intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of the children in the community.
Debra Magnus had owned and operated her four-star licensed childcare center for seven years when she decided to expand. Her center had 34 children on the waiting list and she saw a clear need for a second facility. So she used financing from the SBA 504 program in partnership with First Citizens and Self-Help to buy two new buildings – a gymnasium and a facility for classrooms – that will allow her to accommodate up to 400 students.
The newly expanded center, Bright Beginnings Christian Center, Inc., (BBCC) is located in a growing area of Goldsboro. It is in a convenient location for parents who work on nearby Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Enrollment has tripled to around 60 (as of April 2008) since it opened its doors.
“The great financing terms and interest rates of the SBA 504 Loan Program gave us the option to purchase our new buildings and enrollment has tripled since Dec. 3, 2007.”
Debra feels the new center is better meeting the needs of the community’s children by offering smaller teacher-to-child ratios, more equipment, and a nurturing environment. In addition, the center is using Creative Curriculum, a program for children to learn through play that is required by the State of North Carolina.
One of BBCC’s biggest challenges has been boosting the center up to a Four-Star level since the Division of Child Development recently upped its standards. This effort has meant purchasing additional educational materials, along with supplying scholarships to get teachers back to college since the new standards require they hold degrees. So Debra created scholarships for her teachers to return to school at local Wayne Community College.
Debra has lots of plans for the future and says one of her main goals is to “Deepen our partnership with Goldsboro Wesleyan Church by setting up a free or low-cost youth program for kids ages 12-16 who don’t have a place to go after school but are too old for childcare. I see a real need here.”
Debra is a former Self-Help borrower – we assisted her business with two loans to build and later add to and renovate the three buildings that now served as the first childcare campus.
Debra holds a B.S. in Business and Level III Early childhood education certification. Her husband, Tyrone, who retired after 20 years in the Air Force and holds a Master of Business Administration degree, helped get the business up and running in 2000.
