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V O L . X X I V N O. X X V I I N OV E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 8 20 I n 2017, David Kelso and Linda Engelhardt entered their Madawaska printing business, Wicked Water Graphics, into a fish-and-game expo. ey received great interest in their printing capability on objects like fur- niture and vehicles. e region's market was bigger than Aroostook County's, so they decided to move. After identifying a South Paris building to buy, they approached a conventional lender for financing. "ey laughed at me," says Kelso, who explains his equipment didn't pro- vide sufficient collateral. He contacted Community Concepts Finance Corp., in Lewiston. "ey emailed right back," says Kelso. "Within two days, one of the fin- ance people there drove to Madawaska to talk with us." Community Concepts provided business counseling and a $150,000, five-year loan. "ey really stepped in quickly and stepped up to the plate," says Kelso. Personal attention Community Concepts Finance Corp. is a Community Development Financial Institution, a private sector financial institution that may receive federal funding from the U.S. Treasury. ere are 1,000 such institutions in the country, of which Maine has 11, ranging from Coastal Enterprises Inc. in Brunswick to Eastern Maine Development Corp. in Bangor. CDFIs like to say they offer personal attention, quick action and flexibility, stepping in where conventional lenders won't. "e biggest benefit we see is when it comes to economic development," says Glen Holmes, president of Community Concepts Finance Corp. "If I make a loan to a business, that's the lifeblood of that community. We have communities where there are five businesses and three or four are clients of ours. ere wouldn't be a grocery store or a gas station if it weren't for the work we've done." e other goal, he says, is to improve the borrower's financial stability in order to transition them to conventional financial institutions. "We're not competition for the banks," Holmes says. "We want to get them in shape to use traditional finan- cial institutions." Serving the underserved CDFIs are mission-driven, community- based financial institutions that often make investments — through loans, venture capital, tax credits and other financial services — that make a positive social and economic impact. eir finan- cial products and services are targeted at people and communities underserved by conventional financial institutions, particularly in low-income communities, according to the CDFI Coalition. A key support is the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund, created in 1994 to certify CDFIs and make grants and investments to fund technical assistance and organizational capacity-building. CDFIs and conventional funding institutions are considered comple- mentary, not competitive. CDFIs often partner with banks to develop innovative loans, investments and financial services, often jointly funding community proj- ects, with CDFIs assuming the more- risky subordinated debt. And CDFIs create a future market for conventional institutions by incubating businesses and people to a level of success acceptable to conventional loan programs. "One thing I say is, it's an awesome mission and a terrible business strategy, P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S Community development institutions step in where traditional lenders won't source source source Financing Financing Financing Another B y L a u r i e S c h r e i B e r Linda Engelhardt and David Kelso (center), owners of Wicked Water Graphics in South Paris, with their financing partner, Glen Holmes, president of Community Concepts Finance Corp. The community development financing institution works with a range of small businesses, including ones that might not qualify for a conventional bank loan.

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