Chicago Small Businesses Need Better Lending Options

Chicago Small Businesses Need Better Lending Options

This {{post|publish|submit|put up|article|write-up}|publish|{submit|post}|{put|place|set} up|{article|post|write-up|report|short article|posting}|write-up} was co-authored by Chicago {{City|Metropolis|Town}|Metropolis|{Town|City}} Treasurer Kurt A. Summers, Jr. and Brad McConnell, CEO of Accion serving Illinois & Northwest Indiana.

It’s difficult for most small businesses to obtain a loan. Just ask Margo Strotter, owner of Ain’t She Sweet Cafe, which now has two locations-one in Bronzeville and one in Beverly.

When Margo was starting out she was her own bank, but she knew that wasn’t a long-term solution to her capital needs so she eventually sought help from traditional lenders. Unfortunately, those institutions were either unwilling or unable to help Margo.

Then she had a breakthrough. While attending an event at the Urban League, Margo was {put|place|set} in touch with Accion, a lender that is committed to helping small businesses, particularly those in underserved communities.

 

She ended up receiving two loans from Accion over the years: The first helped her get her business off the ground, the second came 10 years later and allowed her to expand to a second location.

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In Chicagoland, there are a lot of Margos. In fact, the area is home to more than 230,000 small firms, making it the country’s third-largest small business hub. And yet, as big banks focus on big businesses,

 

it has become harder and harder for Chicago’s small business owners and entrepreneurs to secure reasonable loans from responsible lenders.

Indeed, as more small businesses require more capital-to launch, expand, scale, and hire-new “alternative” lenders have cropped up, online and elsewhere, to meet this demand. The trouble is that such alternative lenders are not regulated like banks. Some are hardly regulated at all.

 

And at a time when small business owners in Chicago-often women, minorities, and veterans-face structural challenges accessing new capital, this unregulated alternative lending space leaves them particularly vulnerable to predatory practices.

Given these concerns, we are excited to launch SimpleGrowth- a new online lending tool that connects trusted Chicagoland lending partners to neighborhood businesses.

SimpleGrowth’s lenders, which include Accion, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Small Business and the Women’s Business Development Center, are committed to fair lending practices and to growing small businesses across all of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods.

These nonprofit financial organizations offer responsible underwriting, fair collection, transparent terms and pricing, and inclusive credit access.

Once small business owners complete SimpleGrowth’s free and easy application, they are matched with loans and lenders tailored to their borrowing needs. If they don’t qualify for a loan today Read More.

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