As the child of a small business owner, Chris Markeson is no stranger to hard work. He grew up working on Saturdays and Sundays at his father’s business making piezoelectric buttons for gas grills. Now, as the owner of two laundromats (on top of his day job), he puts in that same relentless hard work. Markeson’s son, who is currently pursuing a business degree, is actively involved in the family business just as Markeson was with his father’s.

My Successes: 

Markeson secured a loan to purchase his first laundromat in 2015, a deal that took a year and a half to close. He purchased a second laundromat two years later.

How SCORE Helped: 

Markeson calls SCORE mentor Peter Ryerson his “life coach.” He says, “I can sometimes get wrapped up in my day-to-day and he will call me and check to see where I am on ‘number three, number four, and number five’ before I start my number six.”

After the first bank Markeson went to for a loan turned him down, Ryerson suggested the bank that eventually gave him not only the loan he asked for, but also an even larger line of credit than he had proposed.

Wash Land