Decatur's Homegrown Featured on Kabbage

DECATUR, GA -- Decatur arts shop Homegrown is getting some national attention.

Homegrown, located at 412 Church St., is currently featured in a video on the homepage of Kabbage, a financial-services website that provides small-business loans.

Homegrown sells locally and regionally made art and other goods.

"Really, what I feel passionate about with our business is the local component of it," said co-owner Beth Thompson in the video. "It's really important to shop local and I love the idea of supporting this community that I've been a part of for such a long time."

Thompson and co-owner Lori Ronca talk on the video about how the loan they got through Kabbage has helped their shop grow.

"One of the biggest challenges I faced running Homegrown is having enough merchandise on our shelves on a consistent basis," Ronca says. "Kabbage allows me to take advantage of opportunities. If I go to a local arts festival and see work that I love, I know I have the funds to get that art into our store."

The site has provided more than $1.6 billion in small-business loans nationwide.

Until recently, Homegrown has carried exclusively art and other goods made in Georgia. This year, they've expanded to selling work from throughout the Southeast -- a move Thompson and Ronca say can be attributed, in part, to the access to capital Kabbage has provided.

(Video and image via Kabbage.com)