Ronald Flowers is using his business to save the planet, as well as create a family legacy.
It all started in 2014, when Flowers’ truck broke down and he took it to his neighborhood junk car dealer in Kalamazoo. Flowers was familiar with scrapping, but not the end-to-end, recycling-everything method John Rouse introduced him to. Flowers was intrigued and Rouse became his mentor.
A year later, Flowers bought his first junk car for $300. He took it apart, sold the pieces, and made a $400 profit. A business was born.
Well, maybe not that fast; there was an issue with credit. “I didn’t know about credit until I was 32, 35 years old,” said Flowers, now 43 and three years into owning his own business. “I never paid attention. Northern Initiatives found things in my credit I didn’t even know about!”
Eric Cunningham, Program Officer at LISC Kalamazoo, referred Flowers to Northern Initiatives for financing.
The loans from Northern Initiatives, using funds from Wells Fargo Open for Business and the Opportunity Finance Network’s Financial Justice fund, helped Flowers consolidate other debt. He also was able to expand his business with the welcome working capital.
Flowers Automotive Recyclers and its team of 12 full-time workers, acquire junk cars, take them apart, sort the parts, and send the parts to people who pay money for them.