Small businesses make up 99.9% of all businesses in the United States and employ 61.7 million people — nearly half of the working population — according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Yet, many aspiring and emerging small business owners struggle to find affordable financing. To help its own local entrepreneurs, Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union ($2.5B, Chattanooga, TN) developed a loan program in 2016 to help early-stage businesses transition into successfully operating enterprises.

During this webinar, Tommy Nix, vice president of commercial lending for Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union will share how the cooperative launched its Idea Leap Loan & Idea Leap Grant programs to assist local small businesses.

Webinar attendees will learn:

• Why partnering with technical assistance providers, such as the SBDC, has been critical 
• How the credit union adjusted its underwriting to serve an unmet need 
• How TVFCU redeployed loan profits into grants to help even more entrepreneurs
• What positive results the credit union has seen to date from both the Loan and Grant programs