A U.S. Treasury grant will give access to capital to economically distressed Oregonians.
Springfield’s Community LendingWorks was awarded $420,000 to help expand small businesses, or personal livelihood. The non-profit is an affiliate of the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation, or NEDCO. Executive Director Claire Seguin says the people they work with don’t have a relationship with a mainstream bank that allows them to borrow.
Seguin: “And that happens to a lot of people because maybe they had a medical crisis, or lost their job, or they’ve lost their home. Or maybe they just don’t have any credit history at all.
Seguin says Community LendingWorks is unique because they pair NEDCO’s education classes with the folks who are borrowing the money.
Seguin: “Our loss rate is zero right now, we’ve done about 190 loans so far and we haven’t lost any. And that’s because we work hand in hand with the folks that we lend to.”
Seguin says more than 690,000 in loans have been issued to date.
copyright, 2014 KLCC