6.0. EDSR 08-11-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PAGE A20•STAR TRIBUNE* THURSDAY,JUNE 26.2003 t rTri n S a bu e Editorial www.startribune.com/opinion e-mail:opinion@startribune.com Our perspective New rural tool Pooling resources for growth Who would have expected it: loans for business or housing pro- City leaders in Lake Crystal are jects. Loan amounts are limited putting their town's tax money only by the size of a member's into an economic development contribution to the pool;members pool that might put a new busi- can originate loans of up to 10 ness farther west on Hwy. 60, in times the amount they put in. archrival Madelia. To qualify, a project must have More such cooperation among a local lender participating in the longtime competitors is happen- financing, and the loan must be ing in Kasson and Mantorville,Lu- salable in the secondary market. verne and Worthington, Moose That's it. Unlike some govern- Lake and Cloquet — in fact, all ment-funded loan and grant pro- over outstate Minnesota. It's hap- grams,there are no job-creation or. • pening because a new tool to gen- wage requirements on the enter- erate capital for economic devel- prise being funded,and no restric- opment has come along, one that tion on whether a loan can apply offers a promise to participating to fixed assets or,with proper col- communities that if they combine lateral, working capital. There is resources,everybody can win. no lengthy,politics-laden applica- The tool is the Minnesota Corn- tion process. Loan approvals can munity Capital Fund, a nonprofit be made within two to four weeks. spinoff of the Northland Institute, This takes Minnesota's tradi- which in turn is a subsidiary of the tion of building economic activity McKnight Initiative Fund's North- through public-private partner- land Foundation. ships in a positive new direction, What it offers that previous eco- at a propitious time. Capital for nomic-development stimulus pro- business investment has been grams did not is ready access to hard to come by in small Minneso- the national secondary lending to towns. Most of the revolving market, through the Minneapolis- loan funds established 20 years based nonprofit Community Rein- ago around the state are too small vestment Fund. (It's the same to offer entrepreneurs much bundler and reseller of communi- meaningful help. State govern- ty development loans that is ment's Minnesota Investment bringing new sources of capital to Fund was drained to the dregs by entrepreneurs in St. Paul, through the 2003 Legislature. the city's new Small Business Ex- The Minnesota Community pansion Program, and Minneapo- Capital Fund has only been opera- lis,through the Minneapolis Corn- tonal for a few months, and it has munity Development Associa- already approved six loans in five tion.) cities, and has 15 others pending. With the Community Reinvest- CEO Scott Martin, who is also the ment Fund involved, the Minne- Northland Institute president, sota Community Capital Fund can predicts that his fund is on to offer its members—outstate cities something big. Here's hoping he's and counties, and their subdivi- right. sions and consortiums — a The fund is reachable on the chance to issue an unlimited num- Internet at www.mncommunity- ber of qualifying gap-financing capitalfund.org.