The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) has announced that five lenders will join the LendTN initiative, a program developed for small business owners in the Volunteer State earlier this year.
According to a statement, the following lenders are participating in the program are:
- Communities Unlimited
- Pathway Lending
- River City Capital
- Tennessee Rural Development Fund
- Three Roots Capital
“In early 2023, eligible lenders completed an Intent to Participate process with TNECD. The program was open to available non-depository Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) that serve Tennessee,” the release says. “CDFIs are mission-driven financial institutions that provide credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations who have been certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury.”
LendTN is a project of Fund Tennessee.
According to the Fund Tennessee website, the program will provide over $100 million in funding via venture capital, debt and/or technical assistance to emerging small businesses in the state.
“Over the next decade, Fund Tennessee will administer $117 million in federal funding to Tennessee small businesses and entrepreneurs as part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s SSBCI (State Small Business and Credit Initiative) program,” the website says. “Fund Tennessee is comprised of InvestTN, the equity component; LendTN, the debt program; and AssistTN, for technical assistance. We believe Tennessee is better when its business community – across all 95 counties – is empowered to grow, create jobs, and transform communities.”
Much of that money will be spent on minority-owned and “underserved” businesses, according to the Fund Tennessee website.
For example, those who live in a CDFI investment area will qualify for funding. A map shows those qualifying areas.
Further, money will be allocated to “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals,” abbreviated “SEDI,” defined as “[i]ndividuals who have had their access to credit on reasonable terms diminished as compared to others in comparable economic circumstances.”
Those circumstances include:
- Membership of a group that has been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias within American society, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons.
- Gender
- Veteran status
- Limited English proficiency
- Disability
- Long-term residence in an environment isolated from the mainstream of American society
- Membership of a federally or state-recognized Indian Tribe
- Long-term residence in a rural community
“Tennessee’s small businesses are the backbone of our state’s economy, and I am excited that through LendTN we can better support them so that they have the opportunity to grow and expand,” said TNECD Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter. “Thank you to these five lenders for stepping up to financially support the entrepreneurs and small business owners across our state.”
TNECD encourages business owners and entrepreneurs who are interested in becoming potential borrowers to fill out an application on the Fund Tennessee website.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X / Twitter.
