Small Businesses
Your growth and sustainability are our concerns. We're problem-solvers and bridge-builders who offer flexible financing and creative solutions to fuel the success of your business.
Not Your Typical Business Lenders
Our vision is small businesses thriving in every sector and every region of N.H. and VT. Business owners should never have to shelve a growth plan for lack of access to capital and expertise. What local small businesses should be doing is creating quality jobs, with benefits, for employees.
We offer:
- Flexible capital, including from other business investors
- Comprehensive assessment and customized advice from a diverse professional network
- Loans that typically range from $10,000 to $1 million (higher with other participating lenders)
- Flexible collateral requirements
- Interest-only periods, depending on loan purpose/structure
- Creativity and experience to get deals to “yes”
- Feedback and advice when a loan from us isn’t appropriate
We offer loans and training to businesses that:
• Are located in New Hampshire, Vermont, or a neighboring state
• Have a plan that defines how capital will solve a problem or facilitate growth
• Offer quality jobs and opportunities for workers
Submit a Loan InquiryCall UsWe lend to small businesses, including startups and those considered too small or too risky for other lenders, for:
• Purchase of equipment or other fixed assets
• Business acquisition
• Refinancing existing debt
• New-product development
• Inventory expansion
• Acquisition of, or improvements to, land or buildings
• Energy efficiency and climate solutions
• Other uses, considered case-by-case
Submit a Loan InquiryCall UsContact Us
Contact Betsy Segal, our Director of Business & Community Lending, to discuss your financing needs.
Call Betsy: (603) 856-0779
Local Food Loans
We offer flexible capital to grow more local food businesses—from producer to processor to consumer. Our local food business borrowers receive comprehensive assessment and customized advice from a diverse network of professionals.
Our vision for our farm and food loans includes:
- An abundance of diverse and thriving food businesses
- Farmers have access to productive land, permits, and markets
- Locally sourced fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins available to food producers and consumers
- Consumers, restaurants, and markets easily find locally produced foods
- Working land stewardship of healthy soils, productive ecological farms and forests, diverse wildlife, and clean water.
Local Food Resources
We compliment our loans by partnering with a group working to bolster the success of agricultural businesses by:
- encouraging collaboration and learning among lenders and service providers, and
- helping businesses prepare and position themselves to access the right capital at the right time.
The working group participants include:
- Farm Credit East
- Farm Service Agency
- N.H. Ag Mediation
- NH Dept. of Agriculture
- Land for Good
- Small Business Administration
- UNH Cooperative Extension
- USDA Rural Development
- Walden Mutual
We have collected many additional resources that are helpful to local food businesses.
Minority-owned Business Lending
Our Minority-owned Business Lending (MOBL) provides flexible financing and customized coaching to business owners of color.
The program began with our Greater Manchester-centered Community-driven Economic Empowerment (C-DEE) initiative, which we’ve expanded statewide.
Some entrepreneurs of color and enterprises we've worked with:
Business in Keene
Owner: Gail Sommers
Businesses in Manchester
Co-owners: 24 refugee farmers
Owners: Beatrice and Emmanuel Adekoya
Owner: Nicole Sublette
Business in Portsmouth
Executive Director: JerriAnne Boggis
Hear From Our Borrowers
One of the best ways to understand how we serve small businesses is to hear from business owners who have worked with us.
Impact Film: Mill Village Market, supporting the community through all seasons
"The impact the stores has, it's bigger than me, it's bigger than us, it's bigger than our staff."
Read MoreImpact Film: Sunfox Farm, creating community
"Farming is traditionally a risky business, it's hard to find a traditional lender to work with."
Read MoreImpact Film: Quality childcare for NH communities
Learn how NH Community Loan Fund partners with early childhood education centers.
Read MoreCelebrating Success
We only succeed when our borrowers succeed. Their stories bring us joy and drive us every day to work to provide more opportunities for our neighbors to shine.
They took the time to really get to know our business, and offered a loan that fit our unique needs. They’re interested in helping New Hampshire businesses with job creation and stability.
Working with the Community Loan Fund was so much easier than I expected. Within two weeks I was meeting with a feasibility study consultant with experience in our field. The result is a large savings in time and capital and more focus on the essence of our business. The Community Loan Fund is a fantastic resource.
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