E-Community Program Increases Maximum Award Amount
NetWork Kansas provides toolkit to increase entrepreneurial activity in participating communities.
News Release from Erik Pedersen, NetWork Kansas
Contact information: 316.425.8841 or epedersen@networkkansas.com
NetWork Kansas is pleased to announce an enhancement to its popular E-Community program. Qualified E-Communities (McPherson County E-Loan) will now be able to access a maximum of $75,000 in loans, up from $45,000. The 60/40 match criteria remains the same, but the program and loan fund criteria is subject to review every six months. E-Communities must meet both the program and loan fund criteria as follows:
Program Criteria
The E-Community must have achieved AT LEAST ONE of the following during the evaluation window of 1/1/16 – 3/31/17: hosted Growing Rural Business or Ice House, sent at least 6 businesses to Destination Business Boot Camp and participated in Community Reinvention Program, had at least 2 businesses participate in Economic Gardening, and hosted/participated in 1 Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge event.
Loan Fund Criteria
A comprehensive review and scoring system has been developed for E-Community loan portfolios. Each portfolio score is calculated by multiplying three metrics: Velocity, Retention Rate and Disbursement Ratio. The product of these metrics equals the overall portfolio score for each community.
“NetWork Kansas is always looking for ways to empower E-Communities with the tools they need to serve entrepreneurs,” said Erik Pedersen, Vice President of Entrepreneurship. “We enjoy sharing information in the hope that additional context helps communities make stronger, more informed decisions. The end result is that we get to reward communities when they do exceptional work.”
“The McPherson business Community and County appreciate the resources that have been made available to assist in the expansion and start up of 37 businesses in McPherson County,” said Jennifer Burch, Executive Director of the McPherson Chamber of Commerce. “McPherson County E-Loan scored 10.57, being number 1 in the State of Kansas of the 45 E-Loan Communities. I tribute the partnerships of the banks, the E-Loan Committee and the entrepreneurs for the success of the program. The McPherson Chamber of Commerce looks forward to continuing supporting the growth of the business community and entrepreneurial spirit of McPherson County.”
NetWork Kansas facilitates the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem within participating communities through the E-Community Partnership. Contributing factors to successful development include availability of financial capital, a local leadership team that meets regularly and development of expertise and educational resources. All of these factors combine to increase entrepreneurial activity in participating towns, leading to increased startup activity, business expansion, job creation and more.
For additional information about the McPherson County E-Loan Program contact the McPherson Chamber of Commerce at 620-241-3303, www.mcphersonchamber.org or visit www.networkkansas.com, click on the Communities tab.