Chamber’s Development Arm Closes Out A Successful Year

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The Chamber’s economic development affiliate, the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC), completed its fiscal year on September 30, 2021.  The NCMDC works in partnership with local banks, credit unions, chambers of commerce and area nonprofits to support emerging microenterprises, small businesses, and community projects in North Central Massachusetts with loans and technical assistance.  The NCMDC provided a total of 84 loans during the year totaling $1,755,253 which helped retain or create a total of 158 jobs. These included 20 conventional microloans totaling $915,200 and 64 loans under round 2 of SBA’s Payroll Protection Program for $840,053.62.  The average size of the loans was $20,895 with the smallest loan at $2,296 and the largest at $150,000.  The conventional microloans were leveraged by another $717,500 in financing from local banks and credit unions and $229,242 in equity from borrowers.  The demographic breakdown for the conventional loans was 38% to minorities; 24% to immigrants; 29% to women; and 81% to low and moderate income. Demographic breakdown for PPP loans was 53% to minorities; 58% were to women; and 64% to low and moderate income.  During the year, the NCMDC also provided 2,399 hours of direct technical assistance to start-up and existing small businesses and hosted several successful workshops and forums in partnership with the Chamber.

Since the microloan program was established in the 1990s, the NCMDC has provided a cumulative total of 313 microloans totaling $10,132,302.00 which have helped create 647 jobs and retain another 300 jobs. The numbers do not include any fixed asset loans (SBA 504 loans) made during the early history of the NCMDC. When factoring in these loans, the NCMDC has made over $22 million in loans.

The NCMDC is certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) program and is a micro-loan intermediary for the U.S. Small Business Administration.