BUSINESS BEAT

Music and mortgages

Merrick entrepreneur builds two businesses in Bellmore

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Steve Eplan, a 49-year-old entrepreneur from Merrick, owns two businesses in the same building in downtown Bellmore. When asked whether they were similar in any way, he said with a laugh, “No.”

Eplan opened Perri Funding Corporation, a registered mortgage broker that specializes in reverse mortgages, at 300 Bedford Ave., in 1993. Four years ago, a vacancy opened in a store front on the lower level of Perri’s building. That’s where Eplan, along with Billy Handy Jr. and Paul Casanova, founded The Rock Underground music school.

“Upstairs, I am seeing people who are getting older and might be in financial trouble,” Eplan explained. “Meanwhile, downstairs, I’ve got a lot of young kids who are excited to be there…I try to keep everyone happy.”

Whether he’s helping people acquire a home equity loan or find a music teacher, Eplan said he feels fortunate to have established two successful businesses. The Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, Inc. was certainly impressed by his work. The group recently named him Bellmore’s Small Businessperson of the Year at its 30th annual breakfast ceremony at the Crest Hollow Country Club. The Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores also named him its Board Member of the Year in January.

Eplan, however, didn’t originally intend to go into business. He worked as a ball boy for the New York Knicks before college and studied athletic administration at St. John’s University, hoping to teach phys. ed. or work in the sports industry.

When Eplan graduated from college in 1988, he couldn’t find work in athletics. After meeting a former classmate who worked in the mortgage industry, he decided to give a different career a try.

Eplan went on to found Perri Funding, which offers many free seminars on reverse mortgages. He noted that many of his clients are older homeowners who are struggling to keep their houses because they face increased expenses and rising health care costs while living on fixed incomes.

Perri Funding was open for 15 years when Eplan decided to take his career path in a second direction, toward the music industry, a move that was sparked by his children.

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