In a unique partnership between the State of Connecticut, CEDF, and six area banks, CEDF is creating a segmented loan fund for Eastern Connecticut. The new pool will ultimately have $4,000,000 to be loaned to small businesses from the New London shoreline to Willimantic and Mansfield region in the North. The pool is made up almost entirely of new bank partners representing the regional banks in the area, including Dime Bank, Chelsea Groton, Liberty Bank, and the Savings Institute. One or more of the Indian tribes in the area may also participate.

The State of Connecticut, recently committed $2,000,000 in bond funds to match the local bank pool. The President of Chelsea Groton, stated, " We wanted to create a designated pool for eastern CT that would follow CEDF’s model and success in other regions. This pool will enhance our ability to provide financing to eastern CT business owners at the same time, protect us from liabilities associated with higher risk lending. CEDF has the expertise to help us in this new market".

Donna Wertenbach , CEDF CEO stated, "The State legislature gave us the incentive with the proposed matching funds to build a partnership that would benefit a broader number and geographic range of small businesses. At this writing, CEDF has brought almost $1,500,000 in new private funding to the table to match the state funds. And good thing, as we already have numerous business owners waiting for the loans. We expect this to be a very active fund."

The new loan funds will be loaned on terms similar to existing pools. Maximum loan size is $250,000 and can be used for any business purpose. For more information contact Jim Wood, Senior Loan officer, CEDF.