Community Affairs:
Article Archive > North Dakota

The Midwest Assistance Program Loan Fund
The Midwest Assistance Program Loan Fund (MAPLF) is a nonprofit organization that provides predevelopment loans to small rural communities in nine Upper Midwest States - Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Loans can be used for clean water and wastewater projects that serve lower-income populations. Borrowers from MAPLF are rural communities and other public water or wastewater authorities with less than 10,000 in population.

Established in 2003, MAPLF has closed seven loans totaling $105,000, has $250,000 more in process, and has sustained no losses. Loans have been made in four of the nine states in MAPLF's service region. MAPLF is an affiliate of the Midwest Assistance Program, which provides engineering, training, and other consulting services to help small rural communities plan and implement water and wastewater improvement projects. MAPLF typically funds projects that have multiple layers of funding, including grants and loans from a variety of sources. Originally capitalized with $100,000 from the Midwest Assistance Program, MAPLF also funds its loans with the proceeds of a federal grant, and is actively seeking new investors. Banks can participate by investing directly into MAPLF, by referring prospective borrowers that do not meet conventional credit criteria, and by structuring MAPLF into financing packages in which the banks would like to participate.

For more information, visit www.map-inc.org or contact Tom Kopp at (952) 758-4334 or tkmap@bevcomm.net.
[Published in News from the Districts, Community Developments Investments, Spring 2006]

Cooperative Financing in the Upper Midwest
Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund (NCDF) is a for-profit, cooperatively owned loan fund that provides financing, training and expertise to small producer, consumer, affordable-housing, worker and land cooperatives in eleven states in the upper Midwest. NCDF today has more than $8 million in assets, has made hundreds of loans to cooperatives since its founding in 1978 and has contained losses since 1978 to 0.27 percent of dollars loaned. Investors in NCDF include banks, cooperatives, religious orders, foundations and others. Certified by the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund as a CDFI and as a community development entity, NCDF also has funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help develop and finance rural housing cooperatives, and NCDF last year established a community development credit union that helps members of cooperatives finance their membership shares. Banks are involved with NCDF as co-lenders, as investors and on the board of directors.

For more information, contact Margaret Lund at (612) 331-9103 or at margaret@ncdf.org. NCDF's web site is www.ncdf.org.
[Published in News from the Districts, Community Developments, Summer 2004]

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Equity Funds=Affordable Housing
The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) has joined with the Montana Board of Housing and the Wyoming Community Development Authority to form the Mountain Plains Equity Group, Inc. (MPEG). MPEG intends to support the development of affordable multifamily housing in rural and urban communities throughout the tri-state area. MPEG is structured as a nonprofit corporation to make investments in low- income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects and potentially historic tax credit projects. The LIHTC program allows owners of low-income housing to receive an annual federal tax credit for up to 10 years depending on the amount of capital invested in a project and the level of the project's commitment to serving low-income tenants. Equity funds typically serve as an investment vehicle for banks and insurance companies who, by investing in affordable housing projects, are seeking to: (1) meet social responsibilities, (2) receive Community Reinvestment Act consideration, and (3) earn a return on their investment.

Contact: Mountain Plains Equity Group (406) 254-1677; www.mpequity.com/index.htm.
[Published in News from the Districts, Community Developments Investments, Fall 2004]

Venture Capital in the Midwest
Venture Capital Fund Hopewell Ventures, L.P. in July 2003 received its "Go Forth" letter from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), a key step toward becoming a Small Business Investment Company. Hopewell, raising up to $150 million of capital, will invest $1 to $5 million in early- to later-stage companies in a dozen Midwestern states -- between Nebraska and Ohio, the Canadian border and Kentucky -- that Hopewell says are underserved by venture capital sources. Banks can invest in Hopewell Ventures as limited partners, can refer companies needing an equity infusion, and can provide banking services to companies in which Hopewell has invested. Hopewell's sister fund, $34 million Adena Ventures, serving Appalachian Ohio and West Virginia, was the first New Markets Venture Capital Company designated by SBA.

Contact: Tom Parkinson at (312) 357-9600; info@hopewellventures.com; www.hopewellventures.com.
[Published in News from the Districts, Community Developments, Winter 2003]

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