Madison Smith Stories and Data

Built to Scale: Designing a Business with Scale in Mind
St. John Manor
Catonsville CO-OP brings together food, community, and local businesses
A Grand Opening Like No Other

Testimonials

Mary Stoick from Sunrise Bank in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the reason my family’s business, which had been in operation for 71 years, is still thriving. We were on the verge of collapse, and being evicted from our old location at that point made it even more challenging. In a desperate attempt to save our business, I decided to take a risky gamble and enter the food truck business. We were incredibly fortunate with the outcome of that decision. While our food truck business was thriving, we faced significant difficulties in finding a lender with fair pricing. Mary informed us that unfortunately, all the allocated funds for their tax credit loan had been exhausted, and they would no longer be able to provide us with funding through that avenue. She emphasized the slim chances of success, urging me to let it go, but I refused to give up. I relentlessly pursued her for days, and finally, something gave way. There were just enough funds to allow us to continue our family legacy. We are now approaching 80 years old, and I have a son. If he chooses to follow in our footsteps, he could potentially extend our business history to 125 years. None of this would have been possible without Mary and Sunrise Bank. This is not an exaggerated or fabricated story; it’s a true account of my life. Mary stands out among many as one of the few who genuinely cares for her customers, making her a rare gem. I sincerely hope that this allocation goes through so that she can continue to do for others what she has done for me.

-Anthony M Polski, Market Bar-B-Que, Minneapolis, MN

Since 2011 the RGVMB CDFI has assisted over 140,000 borrowers across the Nation with access to needed capital. This work can only be done with help from the CDFI Fund.

-Nick Mitchell, Rio Grande Valley Multibank CDFI, Brownsville, TX

This is greater than just the CDFI Fund. There are countless of small businesses that cannot get financial support in a traditional lending institution.

-Terese M. Caro, Legacy Redevelopment Corporation, Milwaukee, WI