Women’s Economic Ventures Awards Grant To Royal Quality Laundry After Woolsey
A WEV grant helps one company recuperate from the devastation of 2018’s historic wildfire.
Royal Quality Laundry, a professional full-service laundry company, established in Malibu in 2015, was awarded a $10,000 grant in May 2019. The Woolsey Fire of November 2018 was the worst wildfire Los Angeles County has seen in modern history. The fire blazed on for 13 days before it was contained. The fast-moving brush fire was 14 miles wide, with a footprint of 150 square miles, and driven by wind gusts of up to 70 mph. In Malibu alone, around 700 structures were destroyed, including 400 single family homes. This destruction not only threatened lives, but local businesses as well. Many Malibu businesses are still suffering the negative impact of the fire. Royal Quality Laundry (www.royalqualitylaundry.net) is one of the many local businesses affected.
“We lost about 80 percent of our business after the fire,” said Natalie Camacho, founder and president at RQL. After months of struggle for Natalie and her wonderful team, they finally reached a silver-lining brought to them by their dedication and strong work ethic. Natalie is in a small group of minority women who own their own business, and she has been recognized for it.
Natalie discovered the loan program from Women’s Economic Ventures, recently funded by Wells Fargo Works for Small Business: Diverse Community Capital program. WEV awarded Natalie’s business a $10,000 grant this May after Natalie applied earlier this year. WEV is a nonprofit based in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. They help small business owners launch, grow and succeed with their business. The recent contribution from Wells Fargo has allowed WEV to award 38 business recovery grants to small businesses that were economically impacted by the Woolsey Fire.
AS ROYAL QUALITY LAUNDRY SAYS, “CLEAN LAUNDRY IS HAPPINESS AND PEACE.”»
“The grant has been a tremendous help for Royal Quality Laundry. We are so grateful that Wells Fargo and WEV have been so eager to help us recover from the fire. We are still allocating how we’d like to spend the remaining grant money as we want to be wise about how we use it,” said Natalie.
The grant has helped Natalie’s business recuperate this summer. She has been able to use the grant funds for marketing, supplies, employee uniforms and more. The program also offers training and consulting, that Natalie and her team are excited to benefit from.
Natalie established Royal Quality Laundry, a full-service laundry company, in 2015. She discovered a service that was missing for many people on the go. She has carefully trained her staff to follow her steps in taking care of the laundry while also connecting with customers with a friendly and helpful attitude.
Quality was the primary focus when starting RQL and that element of the business will be continued for customers to enjoy. In today’s hectic world, regaining personal time is crucial to leading a happy life. RQL’s goal is to enable every customer to have custom professional laundry service so that they can focus on other tasks. And leaving this household chore to the professionals positions Royal Quality Laundry for success.