Revolving loan funds are a key tool for business district revitalization. They can provide crucial gap financing, especially when the investment doesn’t meet the equity requirements of commercial financing or when a lower interest rate is needed to make the project work. Those conditions apply to a good percentage of start-up businesses and projects involving historic properties.

Virginia Community Capital, USDA Rural Development, and Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development are hosting a forum for conversation and knowledge sharing around these funds.

“Implementing Revolving Loan Funds” is a half-day facilitated conversation taking place around the commonwealth over the coming year. Attendees will discuss successes and challenges in using revolving loan fund strategies in building the business community’s capacity. It’s recommended for communities running a loan program or just interested in exploring the idea.

Expect to hear best practices around earning trust from businesses, taking the long view,  preparing for loan defaults, shaping a loan committee, scaling up for second-stage loans, tracking borrowers, and, of course, funding programs.

The first event in this series will take place on August 21, 2019 at the VHDA offices at 105 E. Main Street in Wytheville.

The panel and facilitated conversation will be followed by a networking lunch.

• Register for the Wytheville event.
• Download the flyer to share.
• Add the Facebook event to your calendar.