Cooperative Business Assistance Corporation Funds Southern NJ with EDA Assistance
The EDA capped off 2007 in a big way, providing a $500,000 Fund for Community Economic Development loan to the Cooperative Business Assistance Corporation (CBAC). The southern New Jersey nonprofit microlender will use the loan to fund additional new loans to small businesses in Camden, Atlantic, Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester, and Cape May counties, and to refinance an existing loan with the EDA.
CBAC has been offering small-business owners and entrepreneurs below market interest rate loans, technical assistance, and a professional referral network, since 1987. In recent years, the organization has made 398 loans, which are responsible for retaining or creating approximately 2,293 jobs in southern New Jersey. CBAC's borrowers have increased Camden's real estate tax base by over $20 million. In addition, an impressive 60 percent of its loans have been to minority-owned businesses, and with a history of excellent technical assistance, 97 percent of their borrowers remain in business after five years.
Executive Director Michael Diemer feels the reason CBAC has had such a positive impact on the areas it serves is the rapport it has built within the communities. "You have to get out there and knock on doors," said Diemer. "We are heavily involved with community organizations, churches, and other groups, whereas some large banks may not be involved on that level."
CBAC is a certified Community Development Financial Institution, a Certified Development Entity, a U.S. Small Business Administration MicroLoan Intermediary, and a U.S. Small Business Administration Associate Development Company. CBAC's lending programs have been recognized as a model for small business lending in a low-income urban environment by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve bank, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Woodstock Institute. Moreover, CBAC has been the most active U.S. Small Business Administration micro lender in New Jersey for the last six years.