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With more than 15 years of experience in mental health nursing, in 2022 Schantz Flores, APRN, PMHNP-BC, opened Hope and Wellness, PLLC, providing mental health and psychiatric care to patients in the Hot Spring County area, including limited telehealth services. For the first 3.5 years, Schantz maintained his job full-time in the hospital setting and worked part-time in the clinic along with 2 other part-time employees.

In 2024 to support the growing business, Schantz sought assistance in preparing for his first small business loan. Working with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC), Schantz was approved for a small business loan from his local bank and a small working capital loan from Southern Bancorp, a CDFI utilizing the OnRamp private guarantee program, which provides a 90% loan guarantee for qualifying businesses.

During this period, he continued balancing part-time employment with growing his business, carefully building a sustainable foundation for the clinic.

By 2025, Hope and Wellness had expanded to a team of 5 employees, and Schantz was ready to start the transition into practice full time while exploring opportunities to bring on an additional investor. He eventually made the switch to full-time at the clinic in April of this year. As part of that next stage of growth, he sought assistance in valuing the business and the Community Capital Coalition of Arkansas connected him with Melissa Kempkes. Through that partnership, Schantz developed a clear growth strategy that positioned the practice for continued expansion.

"Schantz is exactly the kind of business owner you want to see succeed. He built a clinic his community needed and he runs it really well. But knowing your business has value and being able to define that value to an investor are two different skills, and the second one takes financial expertise most operators have no reason to have developed. Figuring out what you need and who you can trust with the work is a real gap for most business owners, and it is one of many areas where entrepreneurial support organizations are needed," said Melissa Kempkes, who assisted the company valuation after the Community Capital Coalition of Arkansas connected the two.

Today, Hope and Wellness has grown into a thriving mental health clinic with six full-time employees, recently voted Best Mental Health Service in Hot Spring County. The clinic continues to expand access to quality behavioral health services for individuals and families across the community.

This story demonstrates how the combination of traditional financing, technical assistance, and trusted partnerships utilizing tools that reduce barriers and fill gaps can help entrepreneurs overcome barriers, grow sustainable businesses, and address critical community needs.