Chamber’s development arm closes out a successful year

The Chamber’s economic development affiliate, the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC), completed its fiscal year on September 30, 2019. 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 14 microloans in FY2019 that totaled $631,000. The average size of the loans was $42,000, with the smallest loan at $10,000 and the largest at $150,000. These loans were leveraged by another $ 8,718,200 in financing from local banks and credit unions and $3,641,301 in equity from borrowers. These loans helped retain 33 jobs and created 55 new jobs. In addition to the micro-loans, the NCMDC provided over 350 hours of direct technical assistance to start-up and existing small businesses and hosted several successful workshops and forums in partnership with the Chamber. 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. For more information on the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation, please visit www.choosenorthcentral.com.