Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF), a Colorado-based SBA 504 CDC Lender, Community Advantage Lender and Microloan Intermediary, has been selected as this year’s Jody C. Raskind Award recipient. This recognition is presented annually by the U.S. Small Business Administration to a mission-focused lender that has distinguished itself in helping small businesses start, grow and expand.
The award will be presented to CEF President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia Prinster on May 5, during the opening event of National Small Business Week at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Washington, D.C.
Under Prinster’s 30 years of leadership, CEF has become an SBA Microloan Intermediary and SBA Community Advantage Lender, and received numerous awards, most recently the 2017 Impact Catalyst Award and the 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
Since 1976, CEF has dispersed more than $81 million in start-up and growth capital to over 2,300 businesses and created or retained over 12,000 jobs in Colorado and currently services a portfolio totaling $24.3 million to 611 small business borrowers.
CEF was one of the first 35 nonprofit intermediaries selected for the SBA Microloan Program and since 1992, has dispersed 1457 Microloans totaling $18.5 million, which has helped create/retain 3038 jobs.
As a Community Advantage lender, CEF dispersed a total of 16 loans totaling $2.8 million, to create/retain 129 jobs since inception. Of the FY18 SBA loans: 46% were women-owned businesses; 6% were veteran-owned; 48% were low-income; and 23% minority-owned.
The Jody C. Raskind Award was first presented in 2015 to honor mission lenders that demonstrate extraordinary commitment to the creation, growth and expansion of small businesses in underserved markets with a demonstrable impact on the communities it serves.
Raskind led the SBA’s Office of Microlending for many years and was widely known in the microlending community for her commitment and dedication to small businesses, particularly in underserved areas. She passed away in 2014.
CEF’s dedication to serving the most underserved and economically disenfranchised markets, acting as a champion and advocate for the interests of small businesses, embodies the essence of Jody C. Raskind’s legacy.
National Small Business Week is the SBA’s annual celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation. This year, National Small Business Week will be recognized May 5 – 11, with events planned in Washington, D.C. and around the country.
This year’s award ceremonies will be livestreamed on the SBA’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/sbagov at 6:00 p.m. (EDT). For more information on the national events, visit www.sba.gov/nsbw.