CDFI Friendly is proud to announce an expansion of its programs into southwest Michigan. Executive Director Sam Centellas recently broke the news before a full house at the October Chamber Buzz Event hosted by the Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce.

We are excited to announce that IFF (CDFI) is coming to South Bend on Tuesday, December 3rd for two exciting programs! The registration for both events is FREE through partnership with IFF and a sponsorship from PNC Bank.

CDFI Friendly South Bend y Everwise Credit Union organizaron una presentación virtual para explorar los recursos financieros que están disponibles para empresas latinas. La presentación, realizada en español, tuvo como objetivo cerrar las brechas que a menudo enfrentan los empresarios hispanos.

Flagstar Bank presented CDFI Friendly South Bend with a check for $100,000 Tuesday – a community development investment that will expand the capacity and reach of our Capital Coaching and other programs.

"Flagstar Bank’s investment allows us to reach more underserved communities,” said Executive Director Sam Centellas.

South Bend needs housing. So why do so many neighborhoods remain underdeveloped? One problem known as the "appraisal gap" keeps developers from getting financing.

We’re filling those gaps more than ever before. Check out the video for more.

We first told you about Beauty Hive back in 2021. Now, they’re growing again!

Owner Willie Dearing says it feels like a dream, but she’s one step closer to her ultimate goal: the moment when she knows she won’t have to work for other people anymore.

We’ve teamed up with Allies for Community Business to offer the Credit Builder program, which identifies eleven important startup activities and pairs participants with a Business Coach to help complete them.

In this recent webinar, A4CB shared how entrepreneurs who have completed those startup activities — such as creating a business plan or opening a business bank account — are usually positioned for greater success than those who have not.

Thanks to all who joined us on Zoom for the release of our Annual Report. In 2023, we celebrated a two-fold increase in overall lending, developed two new lending programs, and launched a coaching program. Read more about these highlights, or see the recorded presentation here…

This morning, more than 30 local entrepreneurs and small business hopefuls attended the Steps to Business Success webinar, where CDFI Friendly South Bend introduced our newest program, Capital Coaching. Together, the webinar and the Capital Coaching program will help new business owners start their businesses strong, and maximize their chances of being approved for financing.

South Bend’s new entertainment attraction turns heads everywhere it goes.

The Jumpoff is South Bend’s first pedal trolley. Though the entrepreneurs were initially unable to secure startup funds from traditional lenders, CDFI Friendly South Bend helped connect the entrepreneurs to alternative financing.

“Entrepreneurs – especially minority entrepreneurs – we don’t have assets. We have debt, but we don’t have assets,” Co-owner Rhonda Douglas explains. “So we have to talk about it. We have to not make it a secret, because everybody needs help.”

Nearly 4 billion people use social media daily. Did you know more than half of them use social media to research new products and businesses?

On June 27, CDFI Friendly South Bend co-hosted a Social Media Strategy webinar, where Amanda Askew with Allies for Community Business shared tips for entrepreneurs to maximize social media’s potential to help reach their business objectives. See the replay…

On a snowy Saturday morning in January, more than a dozen local thinkers convened at the South Bend Technology Resource Center to pitch their ideas for alleviating South Bend’s housing crisis.

By the time it was done, three of them – including CFSB’s own executive director Sam Centellas – had taken top honors. “These housing problems are complicated,” admits CFSB executive director Sam Centellas. “There have to be multiple prongs to the solution.”

In 2022– our first full year of steady leadership – CDFI Friendly South Bend facilitated over $4.3 million in total lending to local businesses and organizations.

Most notably, $1.2 million of that figure came from Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). That’s an exciting five-fold increase over the 2005-2019 annual average.

On February 27, CDFI Friendly South Bend co-hosted a webinar to promote the new Indiana Black-Owned Business Loan Fund.

Indiana-based CDFI Bankable shared the details on how this new program aims to close the wealth gaps in our community with loans of up to $50,000 for small businesses.

Jordan Richardson grew up in a neighborhood where investment was not happening. Jordan, the principal of Property Bros LLC, decided he could help be the difference he saw was needed.

You’ve probably heard that money doesn’t grow on trees. But as the leaders of some South Bend nonprofits might tell you, it can come from the sun.

At least that’s what these mission-minded organizations are banking on, with the help of a new energy savings initiative co-sponsored by CDFI Friendly South Bend.

The Energy Assistance Solar Savings Initiative, or EASSI, helps local nonprofits, schools, and other community organizations make energy efficiency upgrades to their facilities. CDFI Friendly South Bend helps participants understand when taking on debt to finance these upgrades makes good sense.

Construction is now underway on the first small-scale, multi-family development in decades to be built in South Bend’s Near Northwest Neighborhood, thanks in part to lending assistance from CDFI Friendly South Bend.

“A nonprofit executive is focused on their mission,” says CFSB Executive Director Sam Centellas. “[W]e help the nonprofit stay centered on their community impact without having to worry about the intricacies of different types of finance…”

It’s our mission to connect people to the capital they need to build up South Bend. That’s why CDFI Friendly South Bend is pleased to be growing our Board of Directors into a team of experienced, community-minded connectors who will move that mission forward.

While we are expressing our gratitude to four Board members who have completed their Board service in 2022, CFSB is also excited to welcome seven new Directors to our Board.

You may not need a new building or heavy equipment just yet. But if you will in the future, you should build credit now.

That’s why CDFI Friendly South Bend has partnered with Allies for Community Business to offer 10 qualifying businesses up to $2,500 each in zero-interest, no-cost loans.

Gracias a todos los que se unieron al seminario con Allies for Community Business (A4CB). El seminario incluyó información sobre capital y los servicios gratuitos de orientación empresarial de A4CB y tambien sobre los servicios de referencia de CDFI Friendly South Bend a empresas locales para obtener asistencia técnica.