Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses announced today that Pacific Community Ventures was selected as one of 24 mission-driven small business lenders to participate in the Small Business Finance Collaborative. This unique and intensive technical assistance program is designed to increase small business capacity in lending in underserved communities in the U.S.
Responsible, affordable credit is not readily available for small businesses, especially minority and women-led businesses, due to the decrease of mainstream finance serving this market. This new program will build the capacity of CDFIs (community development financial institutions) and other mission-driven lenders to deliver responsible and affordable loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs across the nation.
Expanding Access To Working Capital
OFN will provide PCV and the other mission-driven small business lenders with an intensive two-year program of peer learning, training, and technical assistance. As a result, each participant will create and implement a strategic growth plan to improve lending strategies and practices, while maintaining asset quality. Funding is provided by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses with additional support from Surdna Foundation.
“Our nation’s economic recovery has been very uneven, with minority and women-led small businesses in underserved communities experiencing barriers to the credit they need to succeed. The participants in the Collaborative are uniquely positioned to reach these communities, helping owners avoid high cost loans. They will build strategies to aid small business and encourage sustainability, growth, and job creation,” said Mark Pinsky, president and CEO of OFN.
About The Collaborative
The Small Business Finance Collaborative is built upon a successful prior initiative in 2011-2013 where participants reported doubling their assets, increasing their self-sufficiency ratio, and number of small businesses reached. Participants in the Finance Collaborative will expand on concepts learned in a previous training, including value proposition, innovation, talent management, and the lending life cycle. The curriculum’s foundation is adapted from the Babson-designed Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses education program.
“Research shows that small businesses are the leading drivers of economic growth and job creation in this country. Our partnership with OFN will continue to support mission-driven lenders, so that even more entrepreneurs gain access to the capital they need to succeed,” said Esta Stecher, CEO of Goldman Sachs Bank USA. “These lenders were chosen because of their expertise and leadership in this area. We look forward to seeing the impact they will have in underserved communities.”
The Finance Collaborative members reflect the diversity of mission-driven small business lenders and approaches. Working in urban, rural, and Native communities, these lenders offer a range of lending products and business models. The Small Business Finance Collaborative participants are:
- Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. (ACE)
- Accion New Mexico ∙ Arizona ∙ Colorado ∙ Nevada
- Bridgeway Capital
- Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union
- California Coastal Rural Development Corporation (Cal Coastal)
- CDC Small Business Finance
- CEI
- Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF)
- Community First Fund
- Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF)
- Craft3
- Entrepreneur Fund
- Excelsior Growth Fund
- Growth Capital
- Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation (KHIC)
- LiftFund, formerly known as Accion Texas
- Montana Community Development Corporation (Montana CDC)
- Northern Initiatives
- Pacific Community Ventures
- PIDC Community Capital (PIDC-CC)
- The Support Center
- Travois
- VEDC
- Virginia Community Capital (VCC)
About Opportunity Finance Network
OFN creates growth that is good for communities, investors, individuals, and the economy. Members of OFN are community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that deliver responsible lending to help low-wealth and low-income communities join the economic mainstream. Through 2012, OFN’s Network originated more than $33.3 billion in financing in urban, rural, and Native communities, and financed development/rehab of 960,000 housing units, started or expanded nearly 94,000 business and microenterprises, and helped create or maintain nearly 600,000 jobs.
About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is a $500 million investment to help small businesses in the United States create jobs and economic growth by providing entrepreneurs with a practical business education, access to capital and business support services. The program is based on the broadly held view of leading experts that greater access to this combination of education, capital and support services best addresses barriers to growth. The program is active in urban and rural communities across the United States.
(photo: Finance by Simon Cunningham)