HVADC Program: BIPOC Microloan Accelerator

As a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), HVADC has a mission to focus its lending programs on generally underserved minority owned agribusiness located in distressed communities. Its newest program, the BIPOC  Microloan Accelerator program will do just that – providing an opportunity for up to 12 minority agribusiness entrepreneurs to improve their businesses’ financial literacy and access microloans.

Scheduled to commence in May, the program will blend an in-person, virtual and on-demand curriculum to cover topics such as credit repair, how to manage debt, using credit building loans to increase FICO scores, personal and business management budgeting, choosing the right loan for a business, managing cash flow, and achieving loan readiness to access capital. Additional programming will address operational skills and management skills, as well as mental and physical well-being. HVADC staff and HVADC Business Technical Assistance advisors, as well as members of the HVADC CDFI Advisory Group will serve as trainers.

The program will conclude in December, with those entrepreneurs successfully completing the program benchmarks of business and marketing plan development each receiving a $5,000 microloan from the HVADC Agribusiness Loan Fund which will carry a 1% interest rate and 3-year term.  If through business and marketing plan development a business ascertains that it will require additional financing, HVADC will provide assistance to identify appropriate options and to help with necessary paperwork and materials to apply for additional financing. The financing options considered will include loans available from the HVADC Agribusiness Loan Fund.

A primary focus of this program will be to assist businesses of traditionally underserved populations in rural areas, particularly those defined as low- to mid-income, startups, nonemployee firms, those with no access to capital in the traditional sense, and minority groups (businesses owned by women, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, and Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native American, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and other persons of color).

The entrepreneurs selected will be those that have promising business concepts where greater financial literacy and access to capital can make a significant and positive impact on the future of their business. These impact measurements include significant sales growth, increased profitability, job retention and creation, and enhanced sustainability of the business.

BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other minority agribusiness entrepreneurs from the Hudson Valley counties of Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Orange, Rensselaer, Sullivan, Ulster and Washington are invited to apply to participate in the Accelerator.

For additional information, please contact Duane Stanton, HVADC Business Services Coordinator at DStanton@hvadc.org or 518-432-5360.