A new source of funding is available to new and growing businesses in Haverhill.
The Haverhill Partnership Venture Fund is hosting an announcement today at 3 p.m. at Welcome to Floristry, that the fund is live and hoping to attract other financial and community organizations to participate.
The fund seeks to help as many local businesses as possible. “We don’t want to limit [participation] if the demand is there,” said Pentucket Bank President Chuck Walker.
Welcome to Floristry, 600 Broadway, Unit 1, is only the second recipient of a small business loan provided by The Haverhill Partnership Venture Fund which is a collaboration of five institutions: Mill Cities Community Investments (MCCI), Align Credit Union, Enterprise Bank, Haverhill Bank and Pentucket Bank, all committed to helping Haverhill’s small business community thrive by providing funding for Haverhill-based businesses that do not yet have access to conventional bank loans.
Modeled after a similar initiative led by MCCI in Lawrence, the credit union and each of the three banks seeded the fund with $125,000 in capital.
Recipients also receive technical support from MCCI to help ensure the financial success of the business with the expectation that the five financial institutions lend the startup money and then restore the fund in a year.