Manny Flores on 504 Loans, Capital Access & Building Through Ownership

Video Version: https://youtu.be/iAI3oDmRjm8

Guest: Manny Flores — President & CEO, SomerCor
Series: The First Million is Always the Hardest — ACHIEVE Summit Series

As part of the ACHIEVE Summit Series, host Bo Kemp sits down with Manny Flores, President and CEO of SomerCor, for a conversation about one of the most important tools in small business growth: the SBA 504 loan.

As a nonprofit lender and Certified Development Company, SomerCor helps businesses access long-term capital for commercial real estate, equipment, and expansion. Under Manny’s leadership, the organization continues to play a critical role in helping entrepreneurs secure the kind of financing that supports ownership, stability, and long-term growth.

But this conversation is about more than lending.

It is about how access to capital shapes who gets to grow, who gets to own, and who gets to build lasting businesses in their communities.

Bo and Manny explore how 504 loans work, why commercial ownership can become a strategic advantage, and how structured financing helps businesses scale without draining working capital. They also discuss the broader role community-based lenders play in economic development and why capital access remains one of the biggest barriers for entrepreneurs trying to grow.

As a Title Sponsor of the 2026 ACHIEVE Summit, SomerCor’s involvement reflects a shared belief that entrepreneurship requires more than ambition — it requires real pathways to capital, ownership, and scale.

This episode is about financing as a tool for growth, stability, and legacy.

Because the first million is not only about making money.

It is about getting access to the capital that lets you own what you build. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Are you ready to grow your business, build wealth, and spark transformation in the South Suburbs of Chicago? Visit Southlanddevelopment.org today and sign up for our newsletter to stay connected, get the resources, and be the first to hear about the Achieve Summit, where entrepreneurs, developers, investors, and change makers come together to ignite growth and opportunity. Don't just watch change happen, be a part of it. Join the movement at Southlanddevelopment.org and start building your legacy today. Welcome back to the first morning as always the hardest. Today we're joined by Manny Flores, president and CEO of SOMACOR, to talk about one of the most important tools in small business growth, the SBA 504 loan. As a title sponsor of the 2026 Achieve Summit, SOMACOR is helping lead the conversation around capital access, commercial ownership, and what it really takes for entrepreneurs to build stability and scale. Well, thank you for being here and welcome to the first million is always the hardest.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Well, first of all, Bo, I just want to say thank you for having me on the program. Thank you. And really value your leadership and your engagement in our communities and also the outstanding work that the Southland Development Authority is doing here in Illinois. And really, I think it's a it's a national model, and I know we'll go into that discussion shortly. But you know, my my name is Manny Flores. Uh I'm the president CEO of Summer Corps. I'm blessed to be able to say that I've had a number of different roles that I'm very proud of, but uh also just, you know, they they frankly it's been a privilege. Uh I've held public office um where uh at the local government level, I was a city council member here in Chicago, learned about learned a lot about local economic development, what it means for helping small businesses, working with local chambers of commerce, and then also working on a larger scale. Uh you know, the city's uh obviously one of the largest cities. It's a it's a it's an international absolutely uh I would say it is the greatest city. Um but you know, also served in state government where I I worked with Governor Quinn, Pat Quinn, uh in his cabinet, and had a number of different roles that uh you know just created some some unique opportunities for me to now be in this new position. It's not so new anymore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

How did you get to Summer Corps?

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Well, initially I was I was a board member. Uh I had been uh uh recruited by the Summer Corps board in uh at around 2016 because of my uh banking regulatory background. Uh, as you know, I served as a banking commissioner for the state of Illinois for uh nearly four years. Yeah and through that experience uh had the opportunity to work throughout the state of Illinois with the banking community, the credit unions, and other uh financial services companies, but uh candidly not just from a regulatory background. Uh it was also from the lens of the economic impact that these organizations have in our local communities. Yeah. Not just the city of Chicago, but you know, central, southern Illinois, Northwest Illinois. Um, you know, Illinois is also a great state. It's it's not just Chicago.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

That's right. Your your commitment to public service is I think indicative of your interest in impact, right? And the opportunity to not just, you know, to do well and to do good at the same time. And Soma Corps seems to give you a really interesting opportunity to kind of have an impact that's outsized.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

You know, it really is. And I and I gotta tell you, I I I share this with everybody. Uh, I love what I do. I I it's I don't consider it a job, I don't consider it work. Uh, it really is uh a continuance uh of my commitment to public service. So I'm you know, I'm a I'm an attorney by profession, and when I was a little boy, that was that was my dream.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Uh to go to law school, to become an attorney, but not just to say that I'm an attorney, it was uh just a real interest in um doing something, uh helping helping uh communities, help being involved. Yeah. Uh and so, you know, you reference SummerCore in and what we do, and and you're right. I mean, you know, it's uh an organization like SummerCore, it's it's it's it's called a certified development company. It's a non-for-profit lending company, it's a community financial institution, not a CDFI, not a community development financial institution, but it's still a mission-based nonprofit organization. And it's it's very unique because it is tied to the small business administration, the U.S. Small Business Administration, as you know, the the premier federal agency uh that is uh charged with helping grow the small business ecosystem nationally. And so, as part of that effort, you have a network of certified development companies like SummerCore, whose mission it is to uh help the SBA administer and deploy funds through one of the best and seminal economic development loan programs called the SBA 504 loan program.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Yeah, and I want to take a second to make sure we explain to people what that program is and how it works because I think it really sits in this really interesting place. A lot of people, more people I think, are more familiar with the 7A loan from the SBA and are less familiar with 504, but they kind of are two sides of a different coin that work together. So just take a second and explain what the 504 program is that you guys have been administering.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

So the the 504 loan program is a program specifically designed to uh support, and I'm gonna also use the word encourage. Yeah, uh, I like to use the word encourage, motivate business owners to buy their owner-occupied real estate, to buy their own building, to buy their own facility, to buy their equipment, their own equipment, um, and and to do it, do it with lower cost financing. And that that's the encouragement part is to really um help that business uh grow and expand uh by owning and purchasing their real estate. And that also includes uh any construction costs, any improvement costs. And so it is uh, you know, it is specifically dedicated for that, but more so than just that. Um it's not just to help the individual business owner, but it's also tied to job creation. Yeah, it's also tied to investing in under-resourced communities. And and to be clear, you know, yes, there are a lot of under-resourced communities in many urban communities, but we're not just talking about the cities. You also are looking at rural communities where you know maybe it's a farming community, maybe it's a just a smaller town. And and so we we need to make sure that we have resources available to all of these communities because in the end of the day, we know that the jobs are created by smaller businesses. That's right. Right. And and so um there are job creation uh goals and there are other public policy goals tied to this program. So that's also part of the unique distinction between the 504 loan program and the 7A program. I also just say that the 504 program is executed by nonprofit lending institutions like SummerCore.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

And the reason that's important, Bo, is that um, and we do it in partnership. You know, we'll talk a little bit more about that partnership part. But our number one responsibility, our priority, is in alignment with what the SBA's priority is, right? We we are we are our our authorization comes directly from the SBA, so that means that we are looking out for that business interest and that community growth. So it really is a focus on that. And then we also, you know, we partner with banks and other private lenders and other uh organizations to make sure that we are connecting with with the members of the community uh who are in a position to use the this financing. And if they're not ready today, that's okay because that's where we get to work with the Southland Development Authority.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Right? The Cook County uh uh business source is an example. I know we want to give them a shout-out. We're gonna talk a little bit more about the great work that they're doing, but it is about connecting with other stakeholders who are in the trenches, you know, working shoulder to shoulder, helping grow capacity, helping grow our local economies. And we come in with a set of tools, financial access to capital, yep, uh really designed to catalyze growth. And if they're not that business owner is not ready today, we're gonna work with them in partnership with you, Bo, and yeah, to help them take advantage of these resources.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

You know, just to set context for everyone at a broader level, there's this wave that's taking place in the country of boom baby boomers retiring, sometimes called the silver tsunami. You know, they're at that retirement age, and of the individual small business owners, baby boomers are the largest contingent of owners. So as they retire, a couple of things are all happening at once, right? Um they're looking to make enough money to retire, and they're relying on the structure of their business and the sale of their business in one form to do that. When they do retire, often they separate the real estate and equipment from the operating aspects of that business. And in many instances, the operating gets shut down altogether if they can't sell the business, and then they just try to sell the assets. That has a uh a significant and negative impact in our communities. That means that many municipalities are losing the tax revenue from that company, no longer operating there. People who've worked in those jobs for a long period of time are losing those jobs. Um it also has an impact on the ecosystem or the supply chain because many instances, those smaller businesses are part of a whole network of businesses that are actually doing work in the Southland or in the Chicago region or anywhere um in the country. And so we've taken it upon ourselves at the Southland Development Authority to really focus on finding a new set of potential buyers for those programs, those companies, so that in fact those businesses don't get shut down. But in that same process, we're still having to figure out how to separate the issue of the real estate from the operating business. And this is where I think the 504 program in particular could be of interest because I think many of our listeners and many people who are small business owners, they don't really think about owning their, they don't think about the benefits of owning their real estate. They don't think about how that falls into the structure of their generational wealth. They are very afraid of the risk related to it, and many of them just don't think they qualify, right? So kind of walk people through some maybe examples of people that maybe didn't think they qualify and did, people who may have not fully appreciated what the benefit of owning the real estate was, but after they leveraged the 504 program to add real estate to their entire structure, it really solidified and in some cases may have substantially increased their value. Um just walk us through a couple examples because I think it will be really helpful to be tangible to people.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

So a couple things. There's a lot a lot there. So g g g give me a moment. As we know, like for instance, just using housing example, you have a number of federal loan programs dedicated to help home ownership, right? And usually those programs may come with a lower down payment, uh, a more affordable interest rate, um, it's uh you know a third 30-year mortgage. Well, the 504, I would say is is the equivalent for business owners. That's right. So, you know, many of us many of those business owners probably have taken advantage of a Freddie or Fanny loan or some other or a VA loan. Uh and so similarly, you have the SBA 504 loan program. Yeah, I I would I would use that as an analogy to connect it to something that people understand.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Right. You want to you the American dream is we've been told that the American dream is to own your home. Right. But as you know, the home is great, but that's only one one piece of uh of the puzzle, especially if you want to build generational wealth and also strong communities. It's about supporting entrepreneurship. So the this is this is where I get excited because look, the 504 program is a darn good program. It's been around for many years and has uh the metrics on it are outstanding. That's what the 504 loan program is not just helping the home ownership part, but now it's like if you own your business, you can own your own own your real estate, own your building. You own your business, own your own your building for the business. And you know, the way that we make that possible through the SBA 504 loan program is like those other uh federal loan programs that provide for that affordable financing for homeownership. Similarly, here you're talking about a loan that is only gonna require a 10% down payment typically. Um it is uh a fixed rate term, so you have a 10, a 20, or 25-year term. That's really long, right? You're not you know this yourself.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

You're hedging against the economy and changing.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

And you're not gonna get that in a conventional loan. No, right. You're not gonna get that's not conventional financing. So again, that's one of the favorable, that's one of the benefits of using a 504 loan. Um, and then in addition to that, the interest rates are fixed for that time period. That's okay. And the interest right now take advantage, right? Yeah, cash flow is is critical for any any business. Certainty, predictability, being able to manage your your payment uh structure and and schedule, right? The interest rates though under the 504 program are also lower. Typically, uh they're very competitive and typically lower than market rate. So, you know, right now, uh in spite of some of the volatility that we're dealing with, uh the interest rate for the 504 loan program is under six percent.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

That's great.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

And for manufacturing in particular, it's even lower. So manufacturing companies have even a lower interest rate under the 504. There's a special carve out for manufacturing-related companies.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

That's important. We have a large number of manufacturing businesses that we work with through the Metals Hub, which is also a program sponsored by Cook County and the BSO network that we're really trying to make sure that we keep those businesses stable, net network stable.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

So and so, you know, a little bit more of the 504 program i you know, it could be for a smaller size project.

SPEAKER_03 15:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Um we have projects where we have helped business owners with total project costs of 150, believe it or not, to 300,000. Yep. But then we've also been involved in deals where the total project costs were more than 20 million dollars. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Um so and how what is the rest of restriction in terms of the amount of capital the 504 program can bring to the table?

SPEAKER_01 15:50

So it's it's by by size. So typically you're gonna have it's a it's a unique structure. Uh 5040 ten is the typical structure. So what does 504010 mean? Um 40% of the financing for any eligible project is gonna come from the SBA through the 504 loan program. Gotcha. And then if you remember, I said that there's a lower down payment. So as opposed to the 20 plus percent uh that you would have to come up come up with if it was conventional financing here, it's only 10% down of the total project costs. Now, what's one of the unique elements of this program is that we don't finance the project entirely by ourselves. So we we do it in partnership with a bank, a credit union, or other private lenders who are non-depositories. In some instances, it's even CDFIs, community development financial institutions, uh, and we have a number of uh great partners here locally in the Chicago land area. Uh like to give them a shout out, the Chicago Community Loan Fund, Allies for Community Business, you know, we also have Terrence, uh, IFF and Archer, uh uh Greenway Archer uh capital. So, you know, we have, and those are just some, right? Women's business developments. So there's there's a I hope I didn't leave anybody out because I'm gonna get some some some potential angry grams, you know. But the reality is we're we're lucky. But I reference that because it's a it's a public-private partnership.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Um, and the you know, and and so this program not only encourages and facilitates that investment on the side of that small business owner, but it also encourages banks and credit unions and other lenders to do more small business lending because then you know on their side of the ledger, it's a big deal. It is a big deal. On their side of the ledger, instead of the bank being extended 75% or more loan to value on a particular loan, they're at 50%.

SPEAKER_03 17:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

And um one of the other uh elements to encourage that small business lending by the private side is there the lenders are in a first lien position. That's right because it is, as you know, this loan is obviously tied to real estate, right, or a fixed asset. So so you got more principal protection.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

So more principal protection. And then additionally to that, remember that this is a community development loan program. So what does that mean for a bank? That means that you are eligible for community reinvestment act credit. And and so for our listening audience, uh, CRA, Community Reinvestment Act, that's to ensure that our banking institutions are investing in all communities. That's right. Right. Uh we know that there was uh there was a time where there was discrimination and and where funds were not being distributed, you know, uh like they should have. Um and and candidly, you know, not there we still have challenges, right? Uh oftentimes it's a matter of do we have adequate coverage, do we have adequate banking institutions or other uh institutions who are in a position to provide the capital, right? The 504 makes it easier, makes it more possible even for the private institutions to actually lend more in our communities.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

So when you're going back to the 5040 10, 50 percent comes from a commercial bank or CDFI or some other lending institution. 40% comes from SOMACOR through the SBA, and the 10% is a down payment that you, as the owner of the business and future owner of the property, have to put down. That's right. Now that 10%, does it have to be cash? Can you raise that cash?

SPEAKER_01 19:32

It's an equity injection.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

But can I raise money from a bunch of partners that put that money down as equity? Or am I restricted you know sometimes you have a loan and you have to demonstrate you personally have that cash in order to do it?

SPEAKER_01 19:44

I mean, look, what it what it well, you know, obviously now you're getting into some really uh gritty, nitty-gritty details. Um there are some um requirements around who is investing. Um there are personal guarantees in these loans because these are federal loans.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

And that's true for the SBA 7A program too.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

That's right. And and I would just remind everybody that that these are taxpayer dollars. That's right. So we have you know, we wanna we wanna create an opportunity, but as citizens, as as folks who are benefiting from this um from this, you know, government grant, if you will, uh, even though it's a loan, I think it's still I I look at it as a benefit that we have a responsibility to to then repay that obligation and to follow those rules. No question. And and if for no other reason, it's just to remind remind us, right, is that I'm I'm receiving help essentially from my community. Yeah. Right? Because the tax it's a even though it's a self-funded program, it is this program belongs to the taxpayers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

You're using other people's money, and there's not a lot of ways to get access to other people's money. And in exchange, we're asking you to make some commitments around this, right, in order to give you access to this funding. Do you get that knot in your stomach every Sunday night? You've checked all the boxes, career, title, income. But if you're honest, this is not the life you imagined. What if the problem isn't you? It's the design of your life. I'm Bo. I help high performers redesign their lives for freedom, purpose, and real wealth. Join my master class and I'll walk you through the exact framework. Go to lifedesign.com. That's L-I-F-E-D-E-S-Y-N.com. Your new chapter doesn't start someday, it starts now.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Your listening to the first million is always the hardest. We are now returning to the show.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

One of the questions that I have is interesting. You know, when you talk to people about buying versus starting a business, 90% of all businesses that are started within five years fail. Right? But if you go through and get an SBA seven A loan, less than 10% of those businesses. Now, there's obviously a lot of self-selection because the ability to get that 7A loan requires that you've been through a variety of rigorous tests to achieve that. But I'm curious if there's something similar about the 504 loan. Meaning, if I were to go and try to buy this piece of property on my own, my capacity to be able to either finance that property, maintain that property, sell it in the future is very different than if I had a 504 loan. I don't know if there's an analogy.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

So I would say, so I would say this one a couple couple things that I want to clarify. So with that 5040 10, that is the typical structure. All right. Now you referenced startups. Believe it or not, you could be in business for less than two years and be eligible for a 504 loan, but then that down payment is a little higher. Is a little higher. There's going to be a premium, 15% down payment, which is still amazing because if you were a startup and you were seeking conventional financing, you're not going to get it. That's right. It's very rare that you would get the conventional financing if you were operating for under two years. Now, there are rules, and you would still, you know, the the federal government is not just going to give you money just to say, okay, well, you're a small business and we love you. We love small businesses. We do love small business, but we have a responsibility. So in the end of the day, it's going to be about, you know, what is your business plan? What is this? It goes back to the comment that you made about the challenges that any small business has. And so understanding your market, understanding how what are the products that you're manufacturing, who are you selling to, what is the what are the mar local market conditions. Um, you know, uh understanding what your projections are, understanding your financials and your clients, your customer base, that's critical. And so we also, you know, when we do the underwriting, we evaluate those things. Uh we have uh there's a very thorough uh review. We there, you know, there is some flexibility, but again, there is also an obligation on our part to be responsible. Now that being said, yeah, you referenced the performance of businesses who are uh taking on a 7A loan. Well, the charge off rate for the 504 loan is this is nationally, yeah. You know, thousands of businesses, billions of dollars that are being loaned, it's is less than you know one to two percent nationally. Well, that's that's that's what I thought. That is a that is a tremendous track record. Yes, and I would I would say candidly better than a lot of the other programs. And um in part, look, I think it's also there there is a unique uh structure, uh credit underwriting structure, too. And I don't you know I don't want to get too too too technical, but you know, you have essentially in our program, you're gonna have three three uh different sets of eyes. You're gonna have the bank that will do their underwriting, the summer cores of the program that will do the underwriting, and then the SBA examiner will make sure that there's eligibility compliance, and again, that the numbers uh match up with what the application is saying. So there's there's a there's a lot of protection. Now, I don't want to scare off the uh the someone listening to the tuning into this. The reality is, you know, we know we navigate the process. And that's why you would bring on a company like SummerCore. Our responsibility is to how to help all of the constituency groups who who could benefit from the from the program to work together, use yeah, use the program effectively so that in the end of the day we get the financing to the business owner to create the jobs, build do the build out, buy the real estate, and then to catalyze other investment in our communities. Because I want to reinforce that. This is about not just helping a business, a particular business interest, it is about the job creation, it is about you know the secondary impact, right, that these investments have, not just in the particular purchase or the build-out of a building, but then what happens with the sale of those products, the services, and then how that catalyzes and supports other investment in other communities.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

So I I contrary to what you were saying, I don't believe that this is going to scare away most people. And I would put it into this context. Um, it's very difficult to get access to capital, and particularly to get substantial capital that's other people's monies. And so these programs, whether it be the 7A, in this case the 504, are giving you an opportunity to get access to millions of dollars potentially that will become generational wealth for you and your family and your community in exchange for a couple of things that you got to do. But one of the things that's important is you need a guide to go through that process. And that's exactly what Sumacore serves as. So you don't have to come to the program knowing all of the details. Summacore is actually guiding you through that entire process. And yet there's got some rigor to it. And if for whatever reason you're not ready at that moment, you still have Sumacore to help you get ready, and you have organizations like ours, Southland Development Authority, that can also work through that process. That's right. And it's our interest, it's in our interest to do this for very selfish reasons. Our job is to support the growth economically in the communities that we serve. But in the process of doing that, you know, you take 10 years of investing in your operating business, investing in owning your real estate, and now you've created substantial generational wealth. Yes. And that ultimately is where we're trying to go. I know, like you, we serve everyone, but we have a strong interest in a lot of underrepresented communities who we think there's a huge upside to. That includes women who've been the largest number of new entrepreneurs since COVID, particularly women of color. It includes veterans whose jobs and work that they've done in the military are not always easy to translate into the conventional world, but their skill sets are great as entrepreneurs. We also believe a lot of young people, a lot of folks that are coming out of grad school, maybe even some folks that are out of undergrad, who seem really young and green and hungry, but they want to be entrepreneurs. They want to be in this space. And helping them navigate programs like the 504 plan is really an important aspect of this. And in my mind, one of the things that I'm really interested in is the new program that you're working on, which is the Down Payment Assistance Program. And I wanted to ask you just to describe a little bit about that program and how it potentially works with the 504 program.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

So, Bo, you you we talked about uh you you talked about communities that we we want to to help, right? And and to bring about investment um to make our community stronger. It's in everybody's best interest. It's an you know, it it's it's it's not a zero sum game. It's it's about making the pie as large as possible. Absolutely, right? Um the economic pie as large as possible. So, you know, uh uh working with the Southland Development Authority uh through the Cook County Economic Development Committee and the Small Business Source, um, and the and the work that Cook County, the Bureau of Economic Development is doing here locally, uh uh is a model, right? So um we talked you you you touched on one of the uh you know early startups uh and and their need for access to capital. Um one of the one of the challenges uh some that sometimes business owners face, even with that 10% down payment, um, may be challenging uh and being able to access the 504 loan because remember I talked about cash flow, right? And where even if it's a modest sized project, you know, that$30,000, that$60,000, that$100,000 down payment is a lot of money. And may take cash from the liquidity from the business that the business needs to continue to grow. So there's some trade-offs you know, there are trade-offs. And then sometimes what happens is that an underwriter, right, the people who are lending uh the making the finance available, they will look at the liquidity, they will look at your cash flow, uh, your cash flow and your position, your up, your ability to repay the loan. So what we decided was to create a down payment assistance program that the county uh is funding, is supporting. Uh super, super proud of that initiative because this is this is really not to me. It's a big deal. Not many certified development companies across the nation are actually uh able to do what we're doing here. So in many ways, I think it's also a potential model. What we're doing is we're reducing that down payment to essentially five percent in some instances, depending on what that total project costs. So it's the Summer Court down payment assistance program where for businesses that have been at least operating for at least two years that have an annual revenue of$200,000 up to$5 million for a total project cost of up to a million dollars, you may get up to$25,000 as a grant to help you with that down payment. Yep. And the reason that's important is that it keeps it helps with that liquidity crunch. Yeah. It it helps with that cash flow. And it it gives the third party lender um more ease, more comfort in knowing that that borrower, that business, uh is going to be okay after taking that financing to buy their building, to do the build-out, to buy that equipment, to grow. And so um the county, as you know, as part of an initiative, they had uh the community financial institution capacity building grant that was made available through uh President Tony Preikwinkel's leadership and uh the uh Bureau of Economic Development to work with local community financial institutions, nonprofit lenders. So there were a number of CDFIs who received some of this grant support, as well as Summer Corps, but I'm proud to say that we're the only SBA lender uh of that of that cohort who is using these dollars to then help people who own their business own their building. Yeah. And so we're gonna be work we're working together. Yeah. Uh we're, you know, the the we're we want to make sure that that these dollars are deployed to communities that we know um have have so much more potential to grow and the opportunity. And so we're super excited about the down payment assistance program.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Well, as you know, the Southland Development Authority, we work with about 700 to 1,000 businesses a year. Um and that includes kind of brand new startups to solopreneurs. There's a lot of people that have kind of that that single member LLC that they generate and pay and feed their families from that work. And we work with those folks too. But um all the way up to$200 million businesses. So it's kind of from zero to$200 million. But there's about 2.5% of the businesses that we work with that are really kind of high growth entities that we really want to focus on. And these are the sorts of organizations that could really benefit from the 504 program, the down payments assistance program, the other things that we have to do. And we're going to be working together to identify those businesses because, in many instances, in year one, they may not be quite ready to take advantage of your program. They may need a year or two to get prepped and ready, and that's part of what we can do together and kind of working with them. But I would encourage anyone who has a business that's in our space that thinks that they might be interested in the program to reach out directly to us because our job, our mission is to actually put them in that pipeline and get them ready. That's right. Education, we're hoping to do a lot of a lot of that work. We're hoping to leverage this podcast, but also our work with the Achieve Summit that's coming up June 4th and 6th. We're excited about that. Um, and you're gonna be one of the sponsors there. Um, I want to ask you to talk a little bit about how you actually educate people um collectively about the opportunities and use that kind of as a funnel to get people ready. But before you do, I want to make sure we don't forget one point that I want to highlight. The 504 program is available not just for the real estate, but for equipment. And equipment is a big deal for a lot of these businesses. Very big deal. And I'd be interested in getting a sense of where and how you've been able to really educate businesses of the upside potential of leveraging this specifically for equipment.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

So I'm gonna, you know, look, it starts with partnerships with with people like you, leaders like you, and organizations like the Southland Development Authority. Um, we obviously do a lot of work uh directly with the banking community, uh, credit unions and and and private lenders, and oftentimes they're the ones who are calling us to say, hey, I have a client, we think that uh the 504 program really works well for this client. But you know, we also have to be working directly with the you know economic development organizations who are also working hand in hand with uh a very broad range of entrepreneurs. And um you you are educating, you're informing, you are you have that built-in trust with members of the entrepreneurial community in in these respective neighborhoods, right? So we got to get out and we we partner, that's how we do it. Yeah, you know, that that's what we're a big supporter of. Collaboration's the key. It's it's it's critical. It's critical. And the other thing that I I love about our approach, uh Bo is that you know, look, if you take a look at our board, we have a very broad range of board members, we have a number of members from the banking community, right? Because they're also in our loan committee. We need to make sure that we have that that that exercise.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Knowledgeable people, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

But now what we're also doing is we're connecting bankers to organizations like the Southland Development Authority and others. And I I get super excited about that because then you know it's not just about 504, it's about other services, other banking services, it's about other, it's just about financial literacy, period. Um, and and it doesn't matter whether you are a startup or whether you've been in business for 10 years, or whether you know you you are now a multi-million dollar, multi-state operation, you never stop growing. You know that you never stop growing. And so, you know, how can we playing a an intentional role in connecting those various resources, those assets is important. You know, we talk with a lot of partners, and oftentimes, you know, we will learn a l from each other. And but if we're not intentional about that engagement, yeah, we may never learn from each other. We'll miss a lot. So, you know, I I I that's one of the things that I learned early on when I was a city council member when I when I served in state government, the how important it is to bring different stakeholders together and and to learn from each other. And and also not not to go in and and to tell people how to do it, right? But but to learn and understand and collaborate. And also, you know, that's where the innovation takes place. I'm super excited about what's going on locally, and not just, you know, Cook County's leading the charge, right? Yep. What they're doing is is tremendous. And they're, you know, the for instance that these dollars, and and we talked about this before the program, these are not federal dollars that are being deployed. These are county dollars. These are cook county dollars that are being utilized because the county has recognized that there's value in growing jobs, there's value in supporting entrepreneurs because that's where the investment is going.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

Well, credit to Cook County in this instance, that they leveraged the American Rescue Plan Act money to implement a variety of programs. And from that process, what they did is they identified programs that were having the biggest impact and decided that they were going to put their money where their mouth was, right? And continue those types of programs that they thought had the biggest impact, like the down payment assistance program that you're now running, like the BSO program that we operate in. These are things that they are spending and investing, I should say, as opposed to spending money on because they are the things that foster the small business ecosystem that drives the economy going forward. So credit to that entire team.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

And going back, it's an integrated model. So that was you know also the point I was trying to make is it's about the integration that connectivity, you know. Real quick, I love what you said. Uh you referenced how the county leveraged some federal dollars and then found a way to uh have a sustainable pathway beyond that federal investment, and they're doing it. And so similarly, what we're doing here as part of that is right, same thing. Yes, we're connecting a federal and you know, a federal loan program that has a tremendous track record with local economic development investment dollars to have a multiplier effect.

SPEAKER_03 39:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:39

And in really creating a greater level of access for smaller size businesses that maybe would otherwise have had a harder time accessing the 504 loan program to really now get that loan and and to take full advantage of that lower cost financing. Yes. And again, it's like you said, it's not a giveaway. It's it's creating jobs, it's creating opportunity, it's creating stronger, healthier communities. And we talk about hope and opportunity. You know, I know you're fired up.

SPEAKER_02 40:14

Well, I'll I'll tell you, I I I want to transition um as we get on to this to a couple of things. Uh, one, the Achieve Summit, which is going to be fun. I want to thank you first of all for being a sponsor of our inaugural uh summit last year, where we had Damon John as one of our keynotes, um, and excited about this year you guys continuing to work with us. Absolutely. Um, what does a program like this mean, not just to the Southland, but to the region? You know, I asked that question because surprisingly, you would think there are a lot of larger business conferences in the Chicago area, but there really aren't. Not the ones that bring the kind of speakers and um collection of folks that we're talking about together. Um, I'm assuming that had some influence in your decision to continue to work with us. Um, but give us your perspective of your experience last year, what you're expecting this year, and how do you think about this in the context of your broader agenda?

SPEAKER_01 41:08

Well, it it's like a huge expo for for all things entrepreneurship. You had some great speakers and presentations. Yeah. Um, but you know what what excites me is it's so it's a little bit of kind of like a Super Bowl event. Yeah. Right. But uh, as we know, and you played football. Yes. You know, I don't know, I don't know. I know about Kemp. I saw the video. Yeah, right. I saw some of the moves. Yeah, but you know, as you know, you don't win it, you don't win the game on the day of the game. Right. You win it in the preparation, you win it in what goes in, you know, that hard work, and that's what the Southland Development Authority does. It's you know, the the Expo is great. I love the Expo, a lot of inspiration, a lot of resources, but there's a lot of continuity. And so we look we look at this as not just the sponsorship of the event of the Super Bowl for entrepreneurs and SDA, right? Uh, but it's about, you know, I I get excited about the practice. Yeah. So I should have brought my whistle, uh my coach's whistle. I get excited about what goes on every day. And I want to give kudos to you and your team. Um, you know, uh, whether it's manufacturing, whether it's uh a housing, uh, and all of the other resources, technical assistance, you're there consistently. And so uh for us, it's a it's a privilege to just to be able to say, hey, we're we're gonna be partners in this journey. Um and I would say that that the SBA, they're they're expecting that of the summer cores. They're expecting that of the CDCs, uh, uh, you know, to get out there, to partner with with organizations like the SDA. And uh, you know, I'm I'm ready for that practice, coach.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

That sounds great. Well, uh, you know, part of this program is talking about ways in which people can build their business um and overcome some of the challenges of what it takes to build a business. But for many people, what they aspire to really isn't wealth, it's actually personal fulfillment. And I'm curious, just from your perspective, you've done so many different things. And as we started the whole conversation, you've been um a committed public servant in many respects, even though you're technically not a public servant in the role that you're playing, there's a public service that is related to what you do. How do you find personal fulfillment and what drives you in that direction um given all the things that you've done?

SPEAKER_01 43:33

You know, I uh I just um I I love our community. Um I I think this nation is a is a is a a tremendous place. I I've had the privilege of traveling uh to other other places in the world and we have I know that we've had a lot of challenges um but this is still the greatest place out there. Um but we have to work uh to to keep it great and I Entrepreneurship uh is one of the the ways uh and it's one of the reasons why we're so great is that it it creates opportunity for for anybody. Anybody who's willing to work hard. And um and for me in this role, it's kind of it's a it's a unique opportunity to help facilitate that opportunity to to to create something. Um and it's it's a it's a privilege to to not only do it uh in in partnership with units of government at the federal level, at the local level, people who I've worked with, you know, um at all un all levels of government, but then also doing it with with you know other stakeholders, other members of the community to drive impact. And so it's that inspiration and motivation that just uh you know has that little it keeps that fire burning.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

That's good. You know, um we're gonna talk a lot about this, even at the conference and in preparation for the conference, we're gonna do a little bit of workshops to kind of help educate people around 504 programs and ways that they can leverage it for real estate and for equipment. Um but when you think about where you anticipate Soma Corps is gonna be in the next two to three years, not even five, you know, what are the challenges that you have to overcome to get you to the place that you have in your vision?

SPEAKER_01 45:22

You know, I I would just say for for us is is you know uh for any organization is is staying grounded.

SPEAKER_03 45:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

Staying grounded, staying focused, uh, and and uh never never forgetting uh the why. Yeah and re reminding yourself of the why. Um and you know, I I uh I'm super excited uh about what's going on throughout the state of of Illinois. Um I would say though, we we don't just lend in Illinois, we also lend in in uh Indiana, portions of Indiana, portions of Wisconsin, and our our goal is yeah, our goal, one of our goals is to continue that that expansion to serve a broader range of communities. Um but you know there's uh you know I come to it with with uh with some humility and and and and also humbleness and um and just uh you know just work hard. Yeah right? Working hard, having that vision, the why, uh, and and the partnership and collaboration.

SPEAKER_02 46:22

That's great. Well, listen, Mandy, this was fantastic. This is the first of what will be a series of conversations that we have, including having you speak at the Achieve Summit June 4th through 6th at Wind Creek Casino uh this summer. Um but we're really excited about partnering with you, helping to identify businesses that can take advantage of this program, having you serve as a guide to help a lot of these businesses go through this process, and we get to collaborate with you in that. So thank you for coming on to the show and look forward to continuing working with you.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

Thank you, both. Great.

SPEAKER_02 46:56

Thanks. Appreciate it, man. Thank you, brother.