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Check out our 2018 Year in Review video!

WWBIC will continue to work with partners in this region and across the state to successfully serve under supported individuals. WWBIC partners include: SBA resource partners, the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and SCORE in addition to local educational institutions, chambers of commerce and economic and community development organizations.

The $3,000 Game Changer grant will go towards enhancing awareness of these workshops and setting the stage for more Face to Face sessions to take place! Congratulations Safe & Sound!

Established 1979, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) has supported women’s business ownership in our nation’s economy especially providing support those who have been historically under-served or excluded.

As many as 80 simulation participants will be assigned roles in family units and receive background information on their assigned family’s income and expenses. During the simulation, participants will interact with community resources stationed around the room to find or maintain employment, buy groceries, seek social services, and pay bills. CAP’s professional staff will lead the experience and facilitate a debriefing period in which participants can share their insights about what they have learned. The simulation is free and open to the public, though advanced registration is required. Registration is open through November 13 or until full. To register visit portagecountybiz.com/povsim. For more information about poverty simulations, including information about how to sponsor one, visit capservices.org/povsim or contact Olson at 715-343-7165 or eolson@capmail.org.

What’s in store for the future? Rob is working to make Perodigm the leader in telling stories. Not just any stories, stories that allow customers to connect with businesses. Using the famous Native American proverb as guidance, “Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth, and I’ll believe. But tell me a story, and it will live in my heart forever” Perodigm works closely with each client to capture the essence of the business and not just the products, services, features, and benefits. Rob continues, “telling stories is the oldest form of communication and the only communication that transcends cultures, languages, and age. There are businesses currently sharing Native stories, but the real opportunity lies in the peer-to-peer stories that have yet to be told. My goal is to help provide a voice for cultural and economic growth in the Native American community.”

Will’s inspiration for all of his work was his mom, Muriel Pipkins, who raised Will and his two brothers to be caring, kind individuals who give back to their communities. It’s fitting that Mentoring Positives bears the same initials as Will’s mom. It was upon her death that Mentoring Positives was started. To this day, Muriel is recognized as the inspiration behind Will’s work. And, we are thrilled to keep her spirit going through Will who is the inspiration to the young men and women he mentors. Honoring Will as this year’s recipient of the Nan Cheney March for Justice $15,000 grant is the right thing to do!

During the initiative’s pilot year, crucial many community organizations have partnered with Art’s@Large, including the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, Voces De La Frontera and the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee. All are committed to addressing and reducing civic discrimination and race-based misconceptions that stand in the way of intercultural appreciation and immigrant and refugee assimilation into the greater community. FCI congratulates Arts@Large and the Fabric of Milwaukee. We are proud to help fund this fantastic peacemaking initiative!

Give us a call! We will work with you to determine if the Community Advantage loan is right for you and your business. To get started, call Craig Anderson at 414-604-2044, or you can reach him by email at craig@aiccw.org. Loan applications and other information about FACC can be found on our website at www.aiccw-facc.org. Other Expenses: Depending on the nature of the project or use of funds, other expenses could include business valuations, commercial property appraisals, and environmental assessments. Additionally, attorney closing costs can range from $1,500 to $3,500. What paperwork will I have to submit? FACC and the SBA are looking for evidence that your business is well-run, that you can pay back the loan, and that the loan proceeds will be used constructively to grow your business.

Microsoft is an advocate for closing the rural broadband gap in the U.S. Through its Rural Airband Initiative, Microsoft aims to deliver broadband to 2 million people by 2022 through commercial partnerships with local companies like Packerland, leveraging a mixture of technologies including TV White Spaces, and through patent sharing. The initiative also includes digital skills training for people in newly connected communities. Proceeds from Airband connectivity projects will be reinvested to provide additional rural areas with broadband.

Booker talked about the importance of early engagement and turnout in Wisconsin elections and said that Sen. Baldwin was the most-targeted senator in the United States. “In fact, [shes] the most singly targeted human being running for office,” Booker said. “There is no other candidate in the entire United States of America that is having more money thrown at her than this woman right now. That should tell you something. If they’re coming after you, though, that means you are doing something positive, doing something right.” They have an agenda, and I’m not afraid to stand up to them and it,” Baldwin said. “At all levels, I have seen how people can make a difference when they come together,” Baldwin added. “I know everybody in this room is committed to making a difference and paying it forward and focusing on our greatest challenges to our communities.”

The grantee will be required to enroll in CAP Services Business Development Program and will be required to develop and/or enhance their business plan. Three finalists will be chosen for an in-person interview which will be conducted on Friday, May 4, 2018 from 9am until noon.

For over 30 years WWBIC has helped entrepreneurs and business owners put their dreams to work. With over $60 million lent, WWBIC has supported nearly 5,000 businesses start, strengthen or expand in Wisconsin. The largest workforce in Wisconsin and the U.S. are those working for themselves and creating local jobs and employment for others. “WWBIC makes it a point to develop partnerships with financial institutions that share our commitment to entrepreneurs and small business owners in Wisconsin,” said Wendy K. Baumann, WWBIC president, and chief vision officer. “Associated Bank exemplifies the institutional qualities we look for in our lending partners and has supported both WWBIC and our borrowers over the past year.”

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are financial institutions with a mission of serving low- and moderate-income people and communities. CDFIs are increasingly involved in state and local policy and programs in addition to more traditional federal policy work. This brief discusses the types of state and local policy issues that CDFIs interact with and how well-designed policies can further CDFI impacts. The brief introduces the types state and local policy that are important for CDFIs, provides some concrete examples, and concludes with a discussion of strategies and techniques for successful engagement.

On December 12th, the Kresge Foundation announced $16 million in impact investments to nine Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and Development Finance Agencies (DFAs) working to expand opportunity for low-income people in America’s cities through an initiative called Kresge Community Finance (KCF). kresge_community_finance_wordmark_final.jpg In this round, a program related investment of $1 million was given to Forward Community Investments for Healthy Equitable Communities in the most disinvested neighborhoods of Milwaukee.

WEDC, Invest in Wisconsin to help early-stage companies statewide Oct. 30, 2017 — The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and Invest in Wisconsin today announced a new $1 million initiative that will provide capital, technical assistance and training to startup and early-stage technology-focused businesses statewide.

On August 1, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBC) announced the 2017 award recipients of the new Community First® Capacity-Building Grant Program. Six organizations were awarded a total of $250,000 to build their financial, operational, and human capital. Applicants were evaluated based on mission, strategy to increase lending, organizational strength, proposed use of grant funds, […]

Invest in Wisconsin has conducted case studies on two microenterprise businesses that each have received a loan and a package of technical assistance from two of our partners. Both Heather Deegan, who owns Buttons and Bolts Fabric & Quilting Supply, Inc., and Allen Danforth, who runs Go Green Painting LLC, had each reached a point […]