Ulster County Bank Consortium's Credit for Success Program

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

Ulster County Bank Consortium’s Credit for Success Program is an innovative shared-risk lending program that provides access to capital for small businesses that fall just below tradition lending guidelines. Eight Consortium lenders have each committed $150,000 for a total of $1.35 million in funds. The program is administered and the loans are underwritten by the New York State Business Development Corporation. Borrowers must present a declination letter from a traditional lender and must obtain business counseling from the Small Business Development Center in order to receive a loan. Loans fall between $25,000 and $150,000, are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration and can be for working capital, real estate, inventory, refinancing or a variety of other activities. The Credit for Success Program requires no public sector finance, thus it has no cost on taxpayers. However, it is still able to address both real access to capital and the perception that lenders are not willing to lend. The Continued access to capital through the shared-risk Bank Consortium will allow small businesses to create and sustain jobs through a difficult economic period.