Another $600,000: Champion Communities program that has empowered Du Quoin redevelopment gets federal certification
Du Quoin Mayor Rex Duncan, president of the Board of Directors of the Champion Community Investment program and Director of Community Development and Outreach at SIU-Carbondale, stood alongside SIU Chancellor Rita Cheng Thursday morning to announce that the program has landed another $600,000 for business development in five counties.
Nearby was Du Quoin Economic Development director and Champion Communities treasurer Jeff Ashauer as well as Du Quoin native Bill Stanhouse, who works for the state's community economic development agency.
The success of the program--begun in 2002--is reciprocal.
It has made a success of Du Quoin-area business development as part of the five counties it serves while Duncan and Ashauer have made Champion Communities a small business lending model for the nation.
In its infancy, Champion Communities facilitated the purchase of the Turco Manufacturing Co. building. In recent weeks, $50,000 from the program has facilitated landing a replacement foodliner for Kroger in Du Quoin. There have been nearly a dozen success stories in-between.
Tandem to that was the announcement that the program has been designated by the U. S. Department of the Treasury as a Certified Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI. Duncan said during a press conference in the Dunn-Richmond Business Development Center at SIU, "The board members are thrilled to learn of our CDFI designation and certainly of the grant award," Duncan said. "This allows us to be able to further invest in Southern Illinois and get badly needed business capital into the hands of the real job creators in our region - the small businesses that drive our economy day in and day out."
Being a Certified CDFI brings several benefits to CCI and the region, including the ability to learn more about organizational capacity-building, loan underwriting, and improved marketing.
The grant funds awarded to CCI can be used in the five-county region for further small business lending. There is a requirement with the grant that at least 20 percent of the total, or $120,000, must be used in Jackson County as a designated Persistent Poverty County. The CCI board is also considering ways in which some of the grant funding might be used to develop a local equity financing resource.
Duncan said loan information and applications are available at CCI's web site, www.ccinvestments.org. CCI works closely with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Southern Illinois University (SIU) to provide technical assistance to businesses needing loan application assistance. Appointments with SBDC staff can be made by calling (618) 536-2424. CCI is also able to participate in business loans with area banks.
To date, CCI has made approximately 60 loans worth about $3 million in total. Duncan said CCI has worked with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development staff on several loan programs and is grateful for USDA's assistance. "The USDA folks have been amazing to work with. We truly value our relationship with USDA and look forward to continuing that work with them," Duncan said. "We want to be sure we are touching all of the bases to meet the needs of small business in our service area."
Since 2006, CCI has partnered with USDA on a $94,500 Rural Business Enterprise Grant, $2.3 million in Intermediary Relending Program loans, and $500,000 in the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program, or RMAP. Duncan said CCI was able to get the entire original RMAP loan and, using loan repayments, has been able to close 17 loans totaling nearly $745,000, many with the assistance of SIU's SBDC.
Champion Community Investments is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that provides economic and community development support in Perry, Jackson, Williamson, Franklin and Jefferson Counties. CCI is governed by a regionally-representative board of directors. For more information about Champion Community Investments, contact Rex Duncan at 618.453.1268 or rdunc221@yahoo.com. More information is also available at www.ccinvestments.org.