MACED Senior Lender Greg Doyle and Loan Fund Administrator Debbie Reardon recently attended the Opportunity Finance Network’s (OFN) Small Business Finance Forum in Chicago. The annual event is for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) like MACED, as well as other mission-driven small business lenders and their partners.
The forum brought together over 500 attendees—including 108 CDFIs, 18 investors, 6 government agencies and 25 consulting agencies— to confer about both the opportunities and challenges of small business lending.
Part of the forum’s events that pertained especially to MACED was a Small Business Association national training, which Greg attended in order to brush up on issues related to small businesses.
Greg also attended a session on employee-owned businesses, a strategy for wealth creation and retention which MACED is currently exploring as part of its Just Transition and Strategic Initiatives work. One of the presenters of the session, Rebecca Dunn, explained, “Cooperatives, as a business model, keep the money in their communities and resist ‘selling out’ because each worker is invested as an owner.”
MACED works to make sure its employees are able to take advantage of opportunities like the Small Business Finance Forum, so that they are able to improve the organization and best serve the people and communities of central Appalachia.
Greg said of the conference: “There are always new things to learn and new ways, or more efficient ways, of doing things, but I don’t think we’re behind the curve by any means, which was reassuring. To hear how your peers are doing things is always very helpful.”
As a CDFI, MACED is committed to building a robust economy in Appalachia by supporting its true foundation: small business owners. These entrepreneurs need financial support, training, and encouragement to follow their dreams. MACED provides these critical resources to turn those dreams into a reality.
