In 1927, entrepreneur Harry P. “H.P.” Johnson established Johnson Funeral Home in the small Virginia town of McKenney. Nearly 100 years later, the third-generation family business has grown to include three funeral homes spread in the Tri-Cities area, including the McKenney facility operated by Joseph “Joey” Johnson Jr.; the South Hill facility run by his sister, Mary E. Johnson-Fields; and the Petersburg facility managed by Wendal A. Givens.

Even a longstanding family business that has been in operation for nearly a century like the Johnson’s can benefit from the SBDC, as H.P.’s great nephew Joey has learned since partnering with the Crater SBDC in Petersburg beginning in 2021.

“I was raised working in the funeral home,” says Joey, who, alongside his sister, worked at Johnson Funeral Services in various capacities as a child and young adult.

“In 1992, I took over the McKenney home. But there’s been a lot of changes in the industry. Changes to the business environment and business in general.”

Those changes, Joey says, range from the rise of the internet and digital marketing to the demand for alternative disposition methods, like cremation. That’s in addition to the gamut of traditional responsibilities related to running any small business, which was what originally led Joey to connect with the SBDC.

“[What first drew me to the SBDC was] the resources they offered,” Joey says. “I was looking for more experience and knowledge related to running the business.”

Joey reached out to the Longwood SBDC in Farmville after seeing a flyer for programs available to small-business owners. From there he began working with Vandy Jones, the Eastern Region SBDC Director who oversees the Crater SBDC.

Vandy initially helped Joey apply for a grant and enroll in SBDC courses related to taxes and finance. However, with Johnson Funeral Services coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic – which forced significant changes in how the business structured its on-site gatherings – Vandy saw another way to help Joey and Johnson Funeral Services by helping them apply for the zero-percent Tri-Cities Small Business Capital Access Program loan.

That loan, which is offered through Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and in partnership with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and SBDC, allowed Joey to pay off high-interest debt with a zero-interest rate loan. Vandy assisted Joey by setting up a business plan and organizing other documents needed for the application.

“It was a program that with the struggle from the pandemic helped us secure some extra financing. It was a resource that really helped us,” Joey says.

That assistance will help ensure Johnson Funeral Services’ success and keep the family business running for generations to come.