Northeastern launches loan program for women and minority entrepreneurs by John O’Neill

27 Oct Northeastern launches loan program for women and minority entrepreneurs by John O’Neill

North­eastern Uni­ver­sity announced on Tuesday that it will launch the region’s first university-​​supported loan pro­gram for women– and minority-​​owned busi­nesses. The ini­tia­tive, called the Impact Lending pro­gram, will enable local small-​​business owners to secure loans, at below-​​market interest rates, to acquire cru­cial resources to expand their businesses.

The pro­gram was unveiled by North­eastern Pres­i­dent Joseph E. Aoun and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh at an event at the Bolling Building in Roxbury.

“Boston is home to a diverse net­work of entre­pre­neurs and small busi­ness owners,” said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “Ensuring that these local small busi­nesses are able to expand will con­tribute to Boston’s eco­nomic growth. Diver­sity is key to our city’s suc­cess, and I’m proud to sup­port North­eastern and LISC in the Impact Lending program.”

Ensuring that these local small busi­nesses are able to expand will con­tribute to Boston’s eco­nomic growth. Diver­sity is key to our city’s suc­cess, and I’m proud to sup­port North­eastern and LISC in the Impact Lending pro­gram.
— Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh

North­eastern has com­mitted $2.5 mil­lion in seed funding to the pro­gram, which will allow for a revolving fund of $6.5 mil­lion in loans. The uni­ver­sity has part­nered with Local Ini­tia­tives Sup­port Cor­po­ra­tion, a non­profit that pro­vides loans and advi­sory ser­vices to under­served small busi­nesses. LISC will admin­ister and oversee the loans, ranging from $1,000 to $1 mil­lion, with Northeastern’s seed funding serving as a guarantee.

“An entre­pre­neurial ecosystem must embrace inno­va­tion and sup­port those who are one oppor­tu­nity away from turning ideas and hard work into pros­perity,” Aoun said. “It is part of Northeastern’s ethos to invest in inno­va­tion and cel­e­brate the entre­pre­neurial spirit both within our own com­mu­nity and through our part­ner­ships with the com­mu­ni­ties around us.”

The loans can be used for a variety of busi­ness needs, including hiring new staff, obtaining new equip­ment and facil­i­ties, and pur­chasing inventory.

The goal of the pro­gram is to serve 85 small busi­nesses and create 330 jobs in the first two years. In addi­tion to helping busi­nesses grow, the pro­gram will also allow for these busi­nesses to com­pete for larger con­tracts with the university.

It is part of Northeastern’s ethos to invest in inno­va­tion and cel­e­brate the entre­pre­neurial spirit both within our own com­mu­nity and through our part­ner­ships with the com­mu­ni­ties around us.
— North­eastern Pres­i­dent Joseph E. Aoun

LISC will also pro­vide advi­sory ser­vices to help the busi­nesses nav­i­gate the finan­cial and con­trac­tual oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able to them, scale up to take on new oppor­tu­ni­ties, and address other busi­ness issues to ensure that entre­pre­neurs will be successful.

“Not everyone has ben­e­fitted equally from the recent eco­nomic upturn,” said Bob Van Meter, LISC Boston exec­u­tive director. “Our goal is to con­nect small busi­nesses from low-​​income neigh­bor­hoods with the broader regional economy. In building up their capacity, local busi­nesses will be able to take advan­tage of oppor­tu­ni­ties for busi­ness growth that were pre­vi­ously unavail­able to them.”

The Impact Lending pro­gram, which is now accepting appli­ca­tions, is the latest example of Northeastern’s close part­ner­ship with the city and the region, work that includes schol­ar­ships that sup­port local youth, invest­ments in city-​​owned parks and com­mu­nity spaces, community-​​based pro­grams, and vol­un­teer ser­vice work.

Last fall, the uni­ver­sity opened North­eastern Crossing, a formal venue ded­i­cated to fos­tering dia­logue, cre­ative col­lab­o­ra­tion, and new con­nec­tions between city res­i­dents and North­eastern fac­ulty, staff, and students.

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