J.C. Spare Parts & Consulting
Amanda Forrester
March 11, 2024
From Colombia to Pulaski — Greater Roanoke & NRV SBDC paves the way for JC Spare Parts’ success
Started their business after receiving her E-2 Visa; increased employees from one to eight; increased repeat customers from one to five, sales grew 800%.
For 25 years in their native Colombia, Jeniffer Sanchez and her husband Juan Carlos Correa owned a successful machinery parts manufacturing business. When they decided to move to Virginia and replant their entrepreneurial roots stateside, a partnership with the Greater Roanoke + New River Valley SBDC was crucial in helping them establish a new business venture.
“As a Colombian I had to start from scratch in the US,” Jeniffer says. “I found the SBDC online and made an appointment with Tom Tanner.”
Working with Tom, an SBDC Business Advisor, Jeniffer found help for everything she needed to open J.C. Spare Parts and Consulting. That process started with acquiring a specific work visa and continued with financial projections, capital formation, and marketing – all of which the SBDC assisted with.
“I came to the US with a tourist visa,” Jeniffer says. “Tom helped me with the business plan I needed to apply for the E-2 visa that allows me and the three technicians I brought from Colomba to work in the USA.”
The SBDC also connected Jeniffer with key educational resources, like SBDC marketing webinars, and profit and budget forecasting and management.
After laying those early foundations, Jeniffer followed Tom’s guidance and began networking within the new community she and her husband now called home. That included joining the Pulaski Chamber of Commerce, Pulaski County Innovation center and connecting with local manufacturing groups.
In May 2020, JC Spare Parts and Consulting officially opened for business. In the three-plus years since, the company has expanded its services by offering Class A electrical installations to its existing services of providing industrial parts, sharpening, and maintenance services.
That growth has been sustained by the formation of a large repeat client base that has grown from one to five clients from multiple states, and a team that has grown from one employee to eight and its sales grew 800% in just two years.
“The SBDC supported us the whole way,” Jeniffer concludes. “Pulaski is projected to grow, and we want to be part of that growth. With SBDC, we believe we can do it.”
