"I had great communication from the CEF team and everyone was nice and friendly on the road to getting the loan finalized. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I now refer them to everyone I know looking for a loan."
– Andre McClure Jr., Owner of Dre's Tow & Go

Q&A with Owner, Andre McClure Jr.

Give a high level overview of your business. What products or services you offer, where you're located, etc.
We offer roadside assistance services such as towing, jump starts, battery service, tire changes, car lockouts and winch outs.

How did the idea for your business come about?
I worked as a roadside assistance technician at AAA for almost 10yrs and decided it was time to take my skills and knowledge to start my own empire.

Describe your typical customer and what you love about your customers.
People needing assistance with car troubles when they have minor issues happen on the side of the road to things that happen in their driveway. My job is to help them get the assistance they need and get their vehicle where it needs to go. I feel good knowing I could be someone’s roadside superhero.

How did your journey lead you to Colorado Enterprise Fund?
I was doing research looking for the perfect startup business loan to start my business and found them by looking up black-owned businesses startup loans.

What was your experience like when trying to get funding for your business? Ie, how long had you been looking? Did you experience difficulties, etc.?
My experience with funding was a bit frustrating in the beginning. Couldn’t find good rates or people willing to give me the loan I was looking for. It took about a year and a half. Then I did a bit more searching and found CEF.

What was your experience like in working with CEF?
Every person I worked with was so kind and communicative. They explained everything so patiently. The process was slow- going, especially coming out of the influx they had of Covid-related loans, but they assured me the whole time that everything was going to work out. And it did!

What ultimately made you decide to go with CEF as your lender?
I got offered a great APR percentage for it being a black-owned business startup loan. I had great communication from their team and everyone was nice and friendly on the road to getting everything finalized. Overall it was an amazing experience and refer them to everyone I know looking for a loan.

What were you able to do with the funding you received from CEF?
I was able to cover a lot of my start up costs such as my first tow truck, equipment, software and business needs.

What's on the horizon for you and your small business?
To grow at a slow and successful rate to have more trucks on the road helping others when needed and to show my appreciation to my customers with great customer service.

What is something you're looking forward to in the next 3-6 months in your business?
To continue serving customers along the front range and providing them with awesome service for me to continue to grow my business and double my profits from last year.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
I appreciate the opportunity and grateful for the CEF teams efforts to get my loan taken care of.