Wisconsin | Pop. 174,999 | 10 counties

Through participation in the EDA-funded Equitable Lending Leaders program, the commission staff sought to more deeply engage five Native American nations and two major universities to strengthen their region’s small business ecosystem. Viewing their Revolving Loan Fund as a public resource that needed to serve all areas and communities in the region, the loan fund team incorporated a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) section of their loan policies. This statement was tied to greater outreach efforts to reach different communities to diversify the applicant profile of their lending portfolio.

New Mexico | Pop. 1,068,376 | 5 counties

In their 2020 CEDS, the MRCOG team identifies key strategies for inclusive entrepreneurship across both rural and urban entrepreneurs. These strategies include identifying partners and metrics for developing programs by and for people of color, women, and other groups that have had special barriers to entry to entrepreneurship.

Created with support from the Economic Development Administration, this playbook supports diverse founders and funders in understanding the breadth of resources, details of types of innovative models, and the best ways to support inclusive entrepreneurship.

A summary of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s (LISC) ecosystem focused approach to serving small and micro-businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.