CAP Services’ Community Assets for People (CAfP) provides low-cost capital to households and businesses owned by, or providing significant benefit to, low-income and moderate-income individuals.
Start-ups face difficulty accessing financing because they lack the financial track record most lenders require. When business financing is needed, our Small Business Assistance staff works with clients to identify sources that might include CAfP, local economic development corporations and/or local banks. CAfP also provides gap financing to ensure thriving businesses are able to expand when those businesses already have a bank relationship.
Staff underwrite loans just as a bank might but, by design, may take on riskier deals to ensure opportunity for low-income business owners or to facilitate job creation for low-income individuals. Rates and terms are determined by the business and need but generally fall in a 4 – 8% range.
Business lending includes both micro-lending for business starts, and lending for expansions.
CAP Services’ Business Development staff provides technical assistance services to business start-ups and expansions that can include business plan development, market/feasibility assessment and understanding business financials (both pre- and post-loan).
All housing lending (homebuyer down payment assistance and housing rehabilitation) is directed at low-income households (up to 80% County Median Income). CAP’s Homebuyer Assistance Program provides low-rate simple interest loans with payments deferred for up to 30 years (or sooner if the home is sold or is no longer the primary residence of the buyer). Households may also secure financing to make improvements in their homes to meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Quality Standards.
CAP’s auto purchase program, Work-n-Wheels, started in 2009 in response to growing needs of low-income, working households for reliable transportation. Eligibility for the program limits household income to 150% of the federal poverty guideline (e.g., $30,240 for a family of three in 2016). Loans are made up to $5,000. Cars purchased through the program may be modest but still provide increased dependability for those who need a reliable vehicle to keep their jobs.
A track record of success
CAP Services created Community Assets for People, LLC (CAfP) as its lending arm in 1991 in recognition that improved access to personal and business capital could address economic distress in the region. Revolving loan funds were created to support business creation and growth, offer auto and home ownership opportunities. CAfP provides business loans, home mortgage loans and consumer loans in six central Wisconsin counties: Marquette, Portage, Outagamie, Waupaca, Waushara and Wood.
CAfP maintains certification as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the U.S. Treasury and has received capital investments from the CDFI Fund. The portfolio is further capitalized by loan fund investments from the USDA and other private sources. U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded capital helps meet borrower needs in rural Central Wisconsin.
To better serve borrowers in more urban markets, CAP Services, Inc. successfully qualified as a Small Business Administration (SBA) Microlender in 2013.
Make an investment in the future of your community!
Community investing, a subset of socially responsible investing, allows for investment directly into community based organizations. Community investing institutions, like Community Assets for People (CAfP), LLC, use investor capital to finance loans to individuals and organizations that have historically been denied full access to capital by traditional financial institutions. These loans are used for housing, small business creation, (and sometimes education or personal development in the U.S.), or are made available to local financial institutions abroad to finance international community development. The community investing institution, as is the case with CAfP, typically provides training and other types of support and expertise to ensure the success of the loan and its returns for investors.
Community investing grew almost 5% from 2012 to 2014. Assets held and invested locally by community development financial institutions (CDFIs) based in the US totaled $64.3 billion at the start of 2014, up from $61.4 billion in 2012 as more and more look for a double (return and social impact) or triple (return, social impact and environmental impact) bottom line.
CAP Services, Inc. and CAfP, its wholly-owned Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) has earned the trust of numerous loan fund investors.
Making a difference one client at a time.
For additional information contact:
Laura West
VP Business Development
715-343-7141
lwest@capmail.org
CAfP is a certified Community Development Financial Institution.
