| Name | Christine |
|---|---|
| Last Name | DiPietro |
| Home Address | 1015 Brynewood Terrace Chattanooga, TN 37415 United States |
| Organization Name | The Company Lab (CO.LAB) |
| Describe Your Role In The Organization | As Director of Programs, Christine leads all CO.LAB programming, including overseeing the Kiva program and program lead. |
| Organization Address | 1100 Market St #100 Chattanooga, TN 37402 United States |
| Website | https://colab.co/ |
| Best Phone Number To Reach You | 336-978-4140 |
| Alternate Phone Number | (615) 828-6932 |
| Email Address | christine@colab.co |
| Alternate Email Address | info@colab.co |
| Please Describe Your Project In Detail | Kiva is an international non-profit with a significant worldwide impact. Its mission is to connect lenders to entrepreneurs with its nationwide crowdfunding platform that provides zero-interest loans ranging from $1,000 to $15,000, which for an early stage startup could be instrumental. Also, Kiva’s platform houses over 1.5 million cyclical lenders that help crowdfund small business loans, so in theory, when a startup has a campaign on this platform their business is getting exposed to this community of 1.5 million lenders that will be viewing their campaign and potentially contributing to get their loan. As a Kiva Hub, CO.LAB has access to Kiva’s customer relationship management software and is able to provide technical small business assistance to aid,expedite their application process and act as point-person throughout their Kiva experience. CO.LAB also assists the entrepreneur beyond the technical aspects of the application. That support includes access to CO.LAB’s Office Hours programs, general business consulting services, and expertise in early-stage capital access with other Chattanooga area-programs.. We have access to tracking tools for borrowers’ terms and repayments, as well as metrics and reporting on the market-level and borrower-level. The capital access manager in this role works one-on-one with each borrower to understand their business needs and help walk them through the process. Kiva has a low barrier to entry, only asking that the business owner be 18 and older, not in bankruptcy, and have a business license. This means the loan is more accessible to those who would usually get turned down at a traditional bank. CO.LAB is requesting funding to support the Kiva program’s maintenance and expansion over the next three years, beginning Dec. 21, 2021 and ending December 21, 2024. CO.LAB’s current contract with Kiva and funding ends December 2021. |
| Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | CO.LAB’s Kiva program addresses negative economic impacts caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency, including financial harm to small businesses. Kiva provides interest-free capital access to disproportionately affected communities. Kiva applicants in Chattanooga are predominantly minority and female founders. Over the last three years, 62% of Kiva funded projects are minority-owned companies and 61% are female-owned companies. This also includes, - Asian: 5.9; - Black/Afr-Amer: 54.2%; - Hispanic: 5.9% founders. Kiva loans have prevented Chattanooga businesses from shuddering during the pandemic (via collected testimonials). Specifically, Soda Ash and Sand received $3,000 from a Kiva loan and is now thriving. Kiva distinctly speaks to the gaps experienced by underserved founders. |
| Where would your project take place? | CO.LAB’s Kiva project will take place out of the CO.LAB office in Chattanooga, TN, benefitting small business owners across the city. |
| How much will your project cost in total? | 266438 |
| Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | Yes |
| Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | CO.LAB's budget covers other program costs. |
| What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | 50% of Kiva facilitator’s time 10% of time for other programmatic support 60% of Kiva fee at $15,000/year $3K in year 1 for marketing |
| If funded, when would your project start? | December 21, 2021 |
| How long would your project take to complete? | three years |
| What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | -Number of businesses funded -Number of minority-led businesses -Number of female-led businesses -Number of businesses who identified COVID-19 as a factor in the delay of their business growth, contributing factor to its decline, or delay in its launch. -Industry distribution -Loan repayment rate -Average loan amount |
| How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | Because Kiva has been in Chattanooga, we worked with numerous community partners, like the Urban League, Launch Chattanooga and Tennessee Small Business Development Center to host committee meetings that address our outreach, number of funded companies to date and businesses that might be a great fit for the program. We will continue to have those relationships, as well as report our businesses (including those that were not the best fit) to partners to see if there are ways to help these businesses, even if it's not with Kiva. |
| If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | Being a new business without collateral to give to a traditional bank is a common story for Kiva applicants. The Chattanooga entrepreneurial ecosystem is full of local small businesses looking to expand their mission but simply need a bit of help financially. Kiva can help these businesses scale and, in turn, create more Chattanooga businesses and jobs — all while keeping funds local. In many ways Kiva represents the earliest step on a founder's capital access journey. Equipping them with this 0% interest loan resource allows for their business to grow and creates a viable business pipeline to bolster the city’s economic engine, particularly in traditionally underrepresented communities. Beyond this, we see Kiva as part of an early stage intervention point to generational wealth creation by allowing founders to fulfill their financial dreams of successfully operating a business. A successful Kiva program over the next three years will result in: - 30+ companies funded by Kiva per year - $500K in total dollars raised - 100% of Kiva-funded companies operating with growth in December 2024 |
| How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | Success stories, and transparency within those stories will attract the community. There have been many local businesses that have used Kiva to help scale their business. Telling these stories and showing how entrepreneurs were able to use the loan could encourage others to look into how they could utilize the loan as well. Kiva already works with several community partners including Urban League of Greater Chattanooga Inc., Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Launch Tennessee, and America's SBDC Tennessee. |
| Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? | The Kiva program has impacted 25 small business owners to date. So, if funded, we would be able to continue the work that has already begun. Currently, we have a pipeline of 20 companies interested in Kiva funding — 65% minority and 85% female — representing disproportionately affected communities in Chattanooga. CO.LAB’s current contract with Kiva runs out in Dec. 2021, not leaving enough time for companies to be funded. CO.LAB's partners for Kiva include: Urban League of Greater Chattanooga Inc., Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Launch Tennessee, America's SBDC Tennessee, and The City of Chattanooga. Kiva-funded founders are eligible for matches from national partners such as Bank of America, Paypal and Google |