The meetings will keep the topic alive as the research is completed for the May summit. But Shapleigh also wants to talk about alternative funding sources. Many people believe we need to significantly increase guaranteed lending, and to bring a quality CDFI, or community development finance bank, to El Paso. Shapleigh says a community development bank works with small business owners, connecting them to sources of mainstream capital, as well as alternative capital. In CDFI loans, for example, a bank could hold a first note, the Small Business Administration might hold a second, and the third would be guaranteed by the TCAF, the Texas Credit Access Fund.
Banks are more likely to take such a credit risk if the state guarantees the loan.
Without question this means creative use of guaranteed loans and alternative financing. There's no specific date for the spring summit right now. Josie Trejo, chair of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's access to capital steering committee, wants to make sure as many interested parties as possible can attend. We had considered May 6, but that's the date for the city bond election. We still hope to have it in May, we don't want to postpone it any longer.