Small Business City Utility Assistance Grant Program

The City of Cottage Grove is providing assistance to residents that need assistance with their City utility bills because of COVID-19 and businesses that were closed or were restricted in operations that by order of the Governor.

Residents that need assistance can contact Community Sharing. The City will have an additional $15,000 funding available through the H20 program to assist those residents in need.

Businesses will be able to apply for City utility bill assistance through the City of Cottage Grove Small Businesses Grant Program.

This program is funded by the City of Cottage Grove and administered by Community LendingWorks. It is designed to assist COVID-impacted local Cottage Grove small businesses with utility costs incurred with the City of Cottage Grove from March 1, 2020 through present day.

For more information and to apply for the business grants visit:  Community LendingWorks.  

 

Community LendingWorks
Founded in 2011, Community LendingWorks is a growing Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides access to capital and asset building services to help you work your way toward financial stability.

We are also the only CDFI in the region making small business and microenterprise loans of $100,000 and under, offering entrepreneurs both start-up and expansion funds.

Our focus is to help you build a brighter financial future. We see you as more than a credit score! We strive to understand your circumstances and tailor our loans to suit your individual needs. Through our loan products, we hope to assist you in moving forward financially – thus making your life and our community better.

Through our affiliate organization, NEDCO, CLW offers financial education services not available elsewhere in the Willamette Valley. This allows us to pair all of our personal and small business loans with these educational resources to ensure that you, as the borrower, continues to be successful.

In addition, our hands-on underwriting process takes many aspects of a client’s profile into account when making a lending decision, which makes us the ideal lender for those with imperfect credit history or other financial challenges.

While CLW is based in the Willamette Valley, we can lend to any business or person in Oregon.

What is a CDFI and why is it so vital to our community?
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are private financial institutions that are 100% dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable lending to help low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities join the economic mainstream.

By financing community businesses—including small businesses, microenterprises, nonprofit organizations, commercial real estate, and affordable housing—CDFIs spark job growth and retention in hard-to serve markets across the nation.

CDFIs are profitable but not profit-maximizing. They put community first, not the shareholder. For more than 30 years, they have had a proven track record of making an impact in those areas of America that need it most.

Community Development Financial Institutions—or CDFIs—emerged in response to a lack of access to responsible and affordable credit and capital in minority and economically distressed communities. The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, plays a unique and important role in generating economic growth in America. By fostering the creation and expanding the capacity of community-based financial institutions that specialize in providing affordable credit, capital, and financial services, the CDFI Fund builds businesses, creates jobs, and revitalizes neighborhoods.