Grand Rapids Microlender Brands, aims to increase small business lending.

GRAND RAPIDS – Grand Rapids-based microlender has rebranded from Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women. Grow up Because it focuses on increasing the amount of credit given to small businesses.

PROGRESS Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are also among those receiving state funding under the budget agreement signed today by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Founded in 1989, the organization has been a CDFI since 2016 and receives $75 million in state CDFI grants.

Milinda Yesasi.
Courtesy photo

“This is a great investment for the CDFI industry in Michigan,” said Grow CEO Milinda Ysasi. MyBiz.

The budget allocation is the first of its kind for growth and will greatly assist the organization as it seeks to expand with a new brand and introduce more small businesses to the organization, he said.

“Many people think of us only for our programmatic efforts, but that’s because we’re a lender, and we understand the flexibility of businesses needing multiple types of loans and capital,” Yesassi said. “We’re also letting people know that we’re not just for Grand Rapids and we’re not just for women.”

Grow has a racial equity lens and focuses on historically disadvantaged groups, helping many women of color with business loans. In their reinvention, Grow aims to expand lending to business owners who may not be able to access traditional sources of financing, regardless of gender, Ysassi said.

The organization is one of 147 microlenders that offer small business loans of up to $50,000, supported by the US Small Business Administration.

In the year Grow has received funding from the US Treasury’s CDFI Fund, including $200,000 in 2021 through the fund’s Rapid Response Program, which provided $1.25 billion in capital. In the year In 2020, $400,00 in financial assistance from the fund was matched by non-federal funding, and $125,000 in technical assistance to build capacity in 2017, according to the Treasury Department. The firm reported total assets of more than $2.38 million in its 2020 annual report.

Grow has worked to deploy this funding to small businesses that would not normally have access to capital. Her past clients include a variety of retailers, restaurants and consulting businesses.

“When we look at the dynamics of business lending, it often doesn’t go to women, people of color, immigrants and refugees,” Yassi said.

Raised $937,184 in funding to 69 businesses over the past two years. About 73 percent of the loans are to women-owned businesses, and 27 percent of the awardees are women of color. Low- to moderate-income business owners also took out 69 percent of the loans.

Yasasi also said that the company aims to increase the number of commercial loans it issues to 96 this year and to provide more than 1.9 million dollars in loans in the next five years.

“We want to be there to promote entrepreneurs,” Ysassi said. “Our average loan amount is $8,500, and some people say that’s not that much money. For a small business, however, it could mean hiring a new person, providing additional cash flow, or purchasing new equipment.