Jacobson addresses club
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Karen Jacobson, loan fund manager for Woodlands Community Lenders recently addressed the Elkins Rotary Club.
Woodlands Community Lenders, a non-profit organization began by the Randolph County Housing Authority and Woodlands Development Group, was certified by the Department of Treasury in 2012 and began providing higher-risk capital and gap financing to small businesses and real estate projects in the area.
"We were hearing, in Randolph and Tucker counties, that there was concern about vacant main street buildings, people were concerned about dilapidated housing and the lack of housing and about the change in our demographics between our population getting older and younger people not staying," said Jacobson. It was believed that a non-profit lender could attract resources to address some or all of those concerns. A non-profit lender can attract riskier loans and make grants in ways that banks can't.
Job Creation is a main area of emphasis for Woodlands. One of the first businesses assisted was Big Timber Brewing. Originally, Big Timber cobbled together financing from a commercial lender and Woodlands to purchase their first building and get the brewery up and running. From a couple of employees when they first started to a current staff of 24 employees, Big Timber has been able to add to local employment. Another significant employer supported by Woodlands is the Tygart Hotel which is anticipating a staff of 60. "Most of our businesses we're lending to have 1-5 jobs but they're key jobs because most of our borrowers are around or under the age of 40. These are people who have moved back to start a job and raise their kids here or are staying because they've created their own jobs by starting a business," added Jacobson.
Housing Development is another pillar for Woodlands. It's important to provide appropriate housing to support the local community. Woodlands has the flexibility to provide financing for developers of dilapidated buildings that have very little value. It can also provide services to assess the feasibility of a project. "We can make loans to private developers who are just developing housing," said Jacobson. "We helped with the purchase of both the Counter Culture building and the Moyles building in Elkins, both of which have apartments upstairs. We're able to create housing that's really needed without income restrictions."
Another important aspect of the Woodlands model is providing ongoing investment in the area. "TipTop Coffee Shop was one of our first borrowers in 2012. They now employ upwards of 20 people. We helped them get started. They haven't had to borrow from us in years because they're bankable," said Jacobson. After a business becomes established and bankable, Woodlands can step away and commercial lenders can take over the financial needs of an organization.
As of 2022, 50% of Woodlands portfolio was invested in rural downtowns in the region. "We can bring our funds in and lend with that building purchaser and allow Davis Trust or Citizens to go ahead and do the majority loan. That's not only helping the developer get their project going, and with less cash up front, it also helps our banks get their larger projects done and it helps our downtowns," commented Jacobson. Woodlands also acts as fiscal sponsor for the newly created nonprofit, Mon Forest Towns. Mon Forest Towns was created to build and maintain a strong regional economy based on sustainable recreation, tourism, healthy landscapes and active land management while preserving the character of a town.
Woodlands also provides technical assistance to new or growing businesses as well as non-profit organizations to develop the skills they need to succeed. In 2023, over 75 businesses and organizations took advantage of this service. "We did a lot of this during COVID when businesses had to pivot and either have an online presence because their store was shutdown or pivot to takeout food, for instance," said Jacobson.
Woodlands is able to provide leveraged funds to help close a gap in financing. A good example of this is the Hotel 1841 in Petersburg. Grant County Bank provided the funds to renovate the property but, due to COVID, costs were going up and the opening date was being pushed out. Woodlands was able to loan the Hotel $50,000 for furnishing and equipment for the restaurant.
More information can be found at www.woodlandswv.org, or by calling Tena Crites at 304-404-2907.
Visit www.Rotary.org, the club's Facebook page or contact club president Kenny George at kenneth.george@blueridgeriskpartners.com.