Iowa native Jeremy Neppl is a graduate of the famed Culinary Institute of America and has several years of apprenticeship and experience in restaurants featuring fine Italian food. His wife, Trisha, also an Iowa native, has eight years of experience in managing personnel and purchasing wine and food for several restaurants. Together they make a great team.
After completing their education, the couple lived in different areas of the country, including the Napa Valley in California, Chicago, Philadelphia, and finally back home in Iowa. In each location, Jeremy further honed his cooking skills and Trisha her management and operational skills, each gaining more experience so they could open their own restaurant. In March of 2007 Jeremy and Trisha went to visit Kelly McCarty at the Northwest Iowa Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Spencer, to see what they would need to do to make their dream a reality.
Kelly helped the couple start developing a business plan to purchase a restaurant in the Lake Okoboji area; unfortunately, that project did not materialize. That setback didn’t stop the couple and they came back to the SBDC for assistance in late 2008 to start the process again. Kelly assisted the Neppls in writing their business plan, prepared necessary financial projections, and helped them secure the financing necessary to start their restaurant. The company secured funding from the Clay County Revolving Loan Fund, Norwest Bank of Spencer, and additional capital from private investors to purchase equipment, inventory, and other costs and expenses.
La Chiesa Restaurant opened in December of 2009 in Spencer. It is housed in a beautiful, renovated, 113 year-old church located next to the Little Sioux River. La Chiesa (Italian for “the church”) features a casual, fine dining, sit-down experience with a seasonal Italian menu and an extensive list of wines from Italy and California.
Ten full-time and twenty part-time jobs were created and the company achieved sales of $580,000 in their first full year of operations. Expected sales for their second year are $620,000.
Jeremy and Trisha are very appreciative of the assistance they received from the Northwest Iowa Small Business Development Center, which included helping them through their start-up process and providing advice and wisdom when needed. The Neppls also feel more secure in their new venture because they know they have a knowledgeable advisor in Kelly that they can come to for future assistance in growing their business.
Jeremy says, “Without the assistance and continual encouragement of the Northwest Iowa Small Business Development Center, my life’s dream of owning and operating an Italian restaurant would not have come to reality.”
Check out La Chiesa’s website at http://lachiesarestaurant.com. You can also sign up for upcoming events and special deals by “friending” La Chiesa Restaurant on Facebook.