Last fall, after thirty-two years, the Cambridge Food Coop graduated out of cramped quarters in Hubbard Hall, a restored opera house run by an arts organization, into a bright and inviting new home of its own. The move gave it an attractive storefront that's finally big enough for customers to see all the stock.

"It's almost like a beacon on the street," says Marianne Pender, the president of the coop's board, of the window-lit space.

As with many expansions, one hurdle was financial. The coop ultimately had to borrow $35,000 to complete renovations and equipment acquisitions for the former real estate office it was leasing.

But banks wouldn't recognize the unique structure of a cooperative. "They wanted [to lend to] a business with one owner," explains Pender. They even asked the coop's board of directors to personally guarantee the loan! The food coop has 200 member-owners.

Given this cold reception, it was natural for the coop to turn to the Capital District Community Loan Fund, where it was already an investor. The 25-year-old nonprofit financial institution lends to small businesses, and not-profit community and economic development projects in an eleven-county region.

A few years before, flush with a small surplus, the coop had invested some of its cash in the Loan Fund, where it would do good, rather than putting it a regular bank savings account. Coop members had been impressed with the Loan Fund's support for micro businesses. Now their business needed its help.

After visiting the coop's current store and future site and getting a good picture of the coop's needs and plans, the Loan Fund sent the coop's loan application to its board. When it was approved, the loan officer personally delivered the check and papers to sign! Later when the coop found that the project would cost more than anticipated, the Loan Fund came through with the additional sum. They toured the new store after it opened for business and expect updates.

"I cannot give them enough praise," Pender tells me. "It was refreshing to have someone that was truly interested in what we are doing."

The Cambridge Food Co-op is representative of the several hundred small businesses and organizations that the Capital District Community Loan Fund has lent to in its twenty-five years. Its $25 million total in cumulative loans commands an enviable default rate under 2 percent! The coop president's story reveals an obvious reason that virtually all loans get paid back -- the on-going technical assistance and communication that staff provides to borrowers. As satisfied clients can attest, that caring service sets it apart from most other lenders today.

Cambridge Food Co-op, 25 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY 12816, 518/677-5731 
www.cambridgefoodcoop.com

Community activists, such as Roger Markowcz, the long-time director of United Tenants of Albany, whose efforts had been repeatedly thwarted by the refusal of local banks to lend for social needs, were responsible for creating this grassroots financial institution. Back then, the concept was new and less than a handful of Community Loan Funds existed, in Boston, New Hampshire, and Philadelphia. 

All these early Loan Funds were formed under the tutelage of the Institute for Community Economics (ICE), which was run by the late visionary Chuck Matthei. (He is also known to some in the region for developing an innovative model for Roxbury Farm in Columbia County, and other Community Supported Agriculture farms, to make good farmland secure and affordable for themselves and future generations of sustainable farmers.)

One man who was especially instrumental in getting the Capital District Community Loan Fund off the ground was Kirby White. As an ICE consultant, he brought expertise as the writer of the institute's handbook on the subject. While providing technical assistance to the new loan fund for its early years, the Cambridge, NY, native even moved to Troy and then Albany.

In the intervening decades, White has had other roles with the Loan Fund - borrower (as director of a land trust), lender, member, and board member, and he still finds that it "continues to be fun!" Looking back to its modest roots, he is "awed by what [the Loan Fund] has become – in terms of its financial capacity and its organizational culture."

Since 1985 the Loan Fund has been building up its pool of funds to its present $10 million portfolio, half of which is now equity. Much of this money is lent at below-market rate by a diverse group of socially concerned investors – individuals, civic and faith groups, businesses, and even banks. Donations, large and small, and grants also capitalize the funding pool.

This revolving loan fund makes capital available to non-profits as well as small businesses owned by low-income people, minorities, and women. All sorts of enterprises in area cities, the countryside, and in between have benefited as loan recipients. The Loan Fund also provides workshops and other trainings to help people start and develop their enterprises.

Housing has always held a central place with the Capital District Community Loan Fund. This year, in four counties, it will launch its first home mortgage-lending program. Competing nationally with over 450 other applicants for a large U.S. Department of Treasury grant for this purpose, the Loan Fund was one of only 62 organizations selected.

In another interesting housing initiative the Loan Fund has lent $500,000 toward the construction of 10 LEED "Platinum" certified low-income green homes in Schenectady. But that's a whole story in itself.

I spoke with two other recent Loan Fund borrowers. Each operates a unique enterprise that supplies an essential service.


Britta Lovegrove is an R.N. with a deep love for horses and working with children. At EBC Therapy Center, the business she co-owns with two other women in the Albany County hill town of East Berne, she has the chance to combine these interests. The center's initials stand for "Everybody Counts," a phrase that sums up the owners' philosophy.

EBC uses horses to assist with children with special needs, veterans, and other populations. The staff also offers therapeutic riding, as well as yoga, energy therapy, and home-based therapies.

Hippotherapy is a modality in which the movement of the horse promotes a person's mobility. The horse's stride stimulates dormant muscles and nerves, and simply being on a horse gives a person "total sensory bombardment," Lovegrove explains.

She describes the business venture, which opened in 2006, as "a labor of love." She and her partners, who are physical therapists, all work full-time jobs elsewhere.

The business originated after Lovegrove and one of future partners rented space at an indoor horse arena to work as volunteers with special needs children. The site presented difficulties for people with physical limitations so they decided to design a more suitable setting. After doing a business plan and purchasing land for their future therapy center, they were able to secure a loan from a bank. But they "maxed out" their borrowing limit with only sufficient capital for a rough structure.

Short the $60,000 required for fine-tuning the building and adding comforts, they got assistance from the Community Loan Fund. Lovegrove says she appreciated the willingness of the staff to talk with them, listen, and advise.

"We can always call. They're much friendlier, and user-friendly than a bank," she says. And without the Loan Fund, their dream of making hippotherapy available in the Capital Region would be unfulfilled.

EBC Therapy Center, 251 Cole Hill Road, East Berne, NY 12059, 518/872-1870 www.ebcpt.com/

Sherry Birch had been sick for many years, making the rounds of various doctors' offices. Finally a physician tested her for celiac disease, an intolerance to gluten (found in grains like wheat, rye, and barley) that causes symptoms that mimic various diseases. A decade ago, as the condition was "almost unheard of," recalls Birch, there were very few food products on the market.

It was 'learn or starve," so I started cooking, says Birch. When she and her family left Niskayuna to live in rural Washington County, she decided to open a shop for others like her. They leased a vacant ice cream parlor in Brunswick and plowed in their life savings to refurbish it. She started with gluten-free pastas and soups, and added new foods, like breads, donuts, cookies, and even pizza, as she figured out how to make them.

Soon the business, which opened in September 2007, was demanding all their waking hours. She gave up her cleaning business, and before long, her husband had to quit his job, too. Internet sales took off, and they shipped out orders every day.

But after a year and two weeks, the basement flooded in a bad storm, and the fire department ended up condemning the building as unsafe. Their business insurance helped tremendously, but during the six months they were closed and in the process of trying to work out a move to a suitable location, they lost their clientele.

They finally found a 3,000 square foot location in Latham. It's almost twice as big as their first shop, but the insurance would only pay to replace exactly what they had. Latham's more stringent building code also mandated an extra bathroom, another unwelcome expense.

"No one would grant me a loan, even though we had a successful business," Birch says. "The banks wanted a three-year market analysis for a business just like ours, but we have the only 100 percent gluten-free restaurant in the country!"

In the end, the Community Loan Fund saved the day. Birches were able to borrow $20,000 to cover the shortfalls. Last March they re-opened Sherry Lynn's Gluten-Free as a specialty restaurant, bakery, and grocery store. While they still haven't gotten their online business back to the point it was, they are continuing to grow and can finally see "the light at the end of the tunnel."

Birch expresses deep gratitude. "They were absolutely amazing. They talked to me on a human level, and they believed in me when no one else would."

Sherry Lynn's Gluten-Free, LLC, 836 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY 12110 (one mile west of the Northway), 518/786-7700, www.sherrylynnsglutenfree.com

The Capital District Community Loan Fund offers both a community resource for small businesses and not-profits, and an opportunity to contribute to the community wellbeing. 
- Consider loaning a portion of your savings to the Community Loan Fund
- Become a Loan Fund member or donate money outright.  Making small loans with technical assistance and intensive contact does not pay for itself.
- Contact the Loan Fund about free workshops for micro enterprises, non-profits, and specialized groups like artists.

CDCLF, 255 Orange Street, Albany, NY 12210, 518/436-8586, www.cdclf.org