Marcus Myles turned a childhood fascination with trucks into a career as the owner of A1 Rocks in a Box, a gravel supply business. Launched in 1993 with a small loan from Myles’ mother, the business grew steadily. But when Myles was ready to purchase his first bulldozer, he found the road to financing was rocky.
“It was almost impossible,” Myles says. “You can’t borrow money if you don’t already have a lot of money. Even with a good credit score and money down, everybody turned me down, and I mean everybody.”
Hope Credit Union, however, saw Myles as a good investment. Myles “walked into HOPE with a pen” and left with a loan for $100,000 at a reasonable interest rate that allowed his business to grow and allowed Myles to breathe.
“That loan from HOPE changed my business,” Myles says. “I was able to bid on jobs I couldn’t go after before. HOPE gave me an opportunity to make money. That’s what we need in the minority community – someone to give us a chance.”
That first loan is also changing the lives of Myles’ children. Thanks to the steady success of A1 Rocks in a Box, Myles is on his way to building the generational wealth that shapes a family legacy.
“I can leave my kids something more than I had. I can leave them some land, a business, an opportunity. And I can teach them how to make it. Our kids need to learn how to maneuver around these big banks. They need to know who to go to for the help they need to succeed.”
Myles definitely knows where he’s going.
“Everything we own is now through HOPE – several trucks, excavators, bulldozers, and equipment for the business, and our personal cars. We also refinanced our house with HOPE at a much lower rate. Anything I need from HOPE, they make it happen. You know, you’ve got to have somebody behind you to help you live out your dreams. Somebody has to take that first gamble on you before anybody else will. That’s what HOPE did for me. That day I walked into Hope Credit Union, they changed my life.”