Rick Haglund writes in the Traverse City Business News (subscription):
Most Michigan CDFIs, which must be certified by the Treasury Department, are located in the southern half of the state. Just a handful operate from northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. One of those, Northern Initiatives in Marquette, has provided financing to more than a dozen Traverse City-area businesses.
It recently issued a $50,000 loan to the Grand Traverse Foodshed Alliance, which is the nonprofit partner of NoBo Mrkt, a coffee shop and food hub located in the Commongrounds building on Eighth Street. The loan provided working capital for NoBo, which opened in September.
Anne Schneider, the Foodshed Alliance’s executive director, said the nonprofit’s business model doesn’t exactly have bankers knocking down its door to lend it money.
“We have a unique business model,” she said. “The goal isn’t necessarily to get rich, but to improve the community and provide a social impact. We would be turned down by a traditional financial institution because of our business model.”
Schneider said Northern Initiatives had a good understanding of the Foodshed Alliance’s operation and was more flexible with its payment schedule.
“We couldn’t have done this without them,” she said.
Read the Traverse City Business News article (subscription) here.
