APB agenda 082003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lea Clayton is developing an organic farm in Saxapahaw, with financing from Self - Help's Sustainable Development Initiative. ., 5 P,S •? E wl 10MIC cr% As North Carolina's traditional industries continue to decline, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors saw a clear economic development impera- tive. Disappearing jobs must be replaced, and the development of new businesses in North Carolina— particularly in rural areas —could do that. '! Further, existing small businesses must have access to capital in y order to grow and prosper, and create more jobs. Banks are the most efficient and logical source of business capital, but banks gen- erally limit their loans to those presenting the very lowest risks putting their services out of reach of many small businesses. Working from this premise, Golden LEAF early on saw the value of partnership with two institutions who leverage their lending to have the most impact in our target areas of tobacco - dependent and economically impacted communities. The Center for Community Self -Help provides loans and technical assistance to small businesses, in both startup and expansion phases. The Rural Economic Development Center's approach is to work with banks around the state, providing a loan loss reserve that encourages banks to make loans to microentrepre- neurs they would otherwise deem too high a risk. CENTER FOR COMMUNITY SELF -HELL' Often referred to as North Carolina's development bank, the Center for Community Self -Help is the country's first statewide, %nt private- sector financial institution focusing on economic devel- opment in depressed communities. Golden LEAF's first grant of $200,000 to the Center allowed Self -Help to leverage more than $10 million for 46 loans in 19 counties. These loans helped create or save some 250 jobs. A new grant in 2002 added $250,000 which Self -Help will use to continue to expand the pro- gram in areas affected most negatively by the decline in tobacco. Self - Help's outreach goes directly to the agricultural community, including tobacco farms. "We work with partner groups in rural communities who have interacted with farm families for years, said Fred Broadwell, director of the Self -Help Credit Union Ventures Fund's Sustainable Development Initiative. "We're just beginning to see some of these projects get off the ground — ventures that collectively can transform the farm economy." Measuring Up 10