The Grow Miami Fund is a small business loan program that the City of Miami's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has embarked upon in collaboration with the National Development Council (NDC). NDC is one of the nation's oldest and most respected 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations dedicated to affordable housing and economic development finance. The Grow America Fund (GAF) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NDC. GAF was created as a Small Business Lending Company to increase access to capital and to meet the small business financing challenges in those target areas.  NDC operates GAF as a community development bank in collaboration and partnership with client communities.
 
The CRA is attempting to collaboratively partner with visible entities associated in the redevelopment efforts of the City of Miami, the CRA is interested in working cooperatively with CDC’s, administrative agencies and other community based organizations to fully revitalize the City of Miami by providing access to a variety of financing mechanisms to encourage business development and reinvestment to the city.
 
The NDC/Grow Miami Fund program is a SBA 7(A) lending program that will provide businesses located within the CRA redevelopment areas with access to long term, low interest, low down payment loans in the range of $50,000 to $2 million. Loan funds may be used for the procurement of commercial equipment and machinery, land/building acquisition, working capital and/or inventory. Ideally, the CRA would like to work through a referral program, as NDC does not publicly advertise its services. Clients who may not qualify for a bank loan may qualify for a Grow Miami Fund loan and vice-versa; or quite possibly create a strategic alliance to construct loans that are supplementary to funds received from a banking institution (or other traditional lender) as an additional funding resource.

For more information on the Grow Miami Fund, please contact:

Evelyn Herbello
City of Miami
Community Redevelopment Agency
49 NW 5th Street, Suite 100
Miami, FL 33128
Phone: (305) 679-6807
Fax: (305) 679-6836
or visit www.miami-cra.org