Credit building program builds pipeline of bankable borrowers. Since October 2021, 26 participants in the New Growth community development corporation program have improved their credit scores 875 points, with a top entrepreneur achievement of 108 points.
A lack of housing options could nip new rural opportunity in the bud. Can the west central Missouri region muster the private-public collaboration and innovation needed to ramp up housing supply? This question is the topic of a “5th Monday” regional networking luncheon 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Monday May 24.
Strawberries are here! And again this year, friends, family, and neighbors with limited budgets will be able to take locally produced fruits and vegetables home with them thanks to the Double Up Food Bucks Program. Seven farmers’ markets in west central Missouri participate. They are part of a national wave of communities adopting the Double Up Food Bucks approach to helping families, farmers, and communities grow healthy.
Two new Benton county businesses are the latest to get the startup boost they need from a new nonprofit financing resource in west central Missouri: The START HERE Revolving Loan Fund. Both are prime examples of what the START HERE Revolving Loan Fund is designed to do: Support rural businesses that are ready to get going and growing but are too new, too small, or too credit-challenged for traditional bank loans.
Katie Nixon is a farmer and a leader in the good food movement as Food Systems Director at West Central Missouri Community Action Agency. Backroad Production’s IN FOCUS podcast recently featured a conversation with Katie about several regional food and farm development initiatives, including her work with the New Growth community development corporation team.