Dedicated To Economic Vitality Through Small Business Lending

According to recent statistics, 99.8% of businesses in the Golden State are small enterprises representing nearly 50% of California’s workforce. Behind the statistics are the entrepreneurs, the visionaries, and the purveyors of family legacies who desire to control their own destinies, make their mark and forge their own path no matter the sacrifices and long hours such independence requires. Such drive is the hallmark of the American spirit and the engine of California’s economic success.

Despite holding much of the state’s prosperity in their hands, small businesses including farms and agricultural entities, sometimes have difficulty obtaining credit from lenders due to a lack of collateral, operating histories and other issues. It is into this gap that the state’s Financial Development Corporations step and make a significant impact by focusing on small businesses and small-scale farms. In particular they strive to serve businesses in vulnerable communities that are owned by people of color, women, veterans and the disabled, populations that have historically experienced much inequity in acquiring resources for operating and expanding their businesses. For a detailed picture of the affect our programs have, please see the numbers and graphs below:

Capital Access Programs
Created and retained 75,104 jobs since 1999
Guaranteed over $290 million transactions since 1999
Issued 4,026 loan guarantees during the last five years
Average 1.51% loss rate for the last five years
Generate $2 in tax revenue for every $1 in program costs

California Small Businesses
Small businesses are the engine of California’s economic output
7.8 million Californians work in small businesses
There are 3.2 million small businesses in California
Small businesses employ more than 50.0% of the state’s non-farm private workforce