by Alexis Ann
Jim Cronin, President of Dime Bank, hosted the launching of Eastern CT Segmented Loan Fund, a new $4M investment that will help strengthen the economy through Connecticut Economic Development Fund (CEDF).
CEDF was founded in 1994 to revitalize Connecticut’s distressed neighborhoods by providing greater access to capital, technical assistance to small businesses and support for community economic development. Loans vary in size beginning at $5,000 to $250,000 with flexible lending throughout the life of the loan, and loan proceeds can be used for mixed-use properties, including both commercial and residential.
The $4 million for the loan fund is comprised of $2 million in private sector money from local banks and $2 million public sector money from the state, representing a unique private/public collaboration and investment into the region’s economy.
Senator Donald E. Williams, Jr., President Pro Tempore, (D-Brooklyn) announced, “Private investment alone or public investment alone can only go so far. However, together, they can help continue the financial expansion that eastern Connecticut has been experiencing.”
The Mohegan Tribe with Dime Bank, The Savings Institute, Chelsea Groton, Liberty, Jewitt City, Eastern Federal are the seven primary investors in this pilot program to initiate this plan in the eastern part of the state along regional planning organization lines. This private investment is being matched by state bond funding through the CEDF. It is noteworthy that this is the first time in CEDF’s history that a non-bank investor has been included in the group of private investors. Read the story here.
