The Business
Rufino’s Painting and Construction is a full service construction firm that specializes in painting and drywall. Rufino’s Painting, a certified DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise), has completed hundreds of commercial projects in the metro New Orleans area, among them several high profile projects and dozens of school projects.
Mr. Rufino Saavedra, President, was born in Peru and immigrated to the United States in 1983. Trained in Peru and Venezuela as a quality control engineer, he worked odd jobs and took classes in English, then landed a quality control job in 1985. After being laid off in 1989, Mr. Saavedra took a job painting for a friend of his family. From an initial investment of $27 in 1990 for brushes and rollers to paint a small apartment, his company has grown to include a workforce of eighty plus (80+) people working four to five mostly commercial projects at any one time.
TruImpact
In 2013 Mr. Saavedra was searching for a financial product that would help him grow his business by allowing him to bid on larger projects and to have multiple projects under contract at one time. Mr. Saavedra reached out to TruFund Financial Services, Inc. in New Orleans to inquire about their Contractor Mobilization Loan Product.
With TruFund’s help Mr. Saavedra was able to receive loans totaling over $900K to execute six contracts that total over $3.3 million; four of these six projects were school projects. Mr. Saavedra says “My relationship with Trufund has allowed me to grow my business and mitigate certain financial risks associated with being a subcontractor”. Despite his success Mr. Saavedra feels that certified and qualified DBE’s could be even better off if they had easier access to secure higher bonding limits and financing for working capital.
