SAN DIEGO–Civic San Diego provided Accion San Diego, a nonprofit microlender, $400,000 in lending capital from the Civic San Diego Loan Fund in 2017.
The capital is supporting small businesses in communities that have a median household income of $60,000 or below. One of the businesses who received funds was The Heart and Trotter Butchery located in the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association (BIA).
Voted San Diego City Beat’s Best Butcher Shop the last three years, the Heart and Trotter is a whole animal butchery offering the highest quality, hormone and antibiotic free meats and products sourced from local sustainable ranchers and businesses.
“The decision to provide the funds to Accion from Civic San Diego was a part of the Business Improvement District Access to Capital (BID A2C) program, which helps entrepreneurs find alternative financing if they do not qualify for conventional bank loans,” said Tootie Thomas, President of the El Cajon Boulevard BIA. “We are excited to be a part of this program to help so many small businesses; as these businesses grow and create new jobs, our neighborhoods thrive.”
In February 2018, the owners received a $35,000 loan, which sustained five jobs and allowed them to purchase equipment for their kitchen. In honor of the shop’s contributions to the community and financial success, they and the BID A2C program hosted a small business celebration on June 11 at The Heart and Trotter Butcher Shop.
“The Heart and Trotter butchershop is run quite differently from modern meat markets today,” said owner James Holtslag. “We buy whole animals direct from the rancher, they are then sent to harvest, and the meat is shipped directly to our shop. We are a full-service whole animal butcher shop; sustainability is just one exclusive characteristic that sets us apart from all other meat markets in San Diego.”
Civic San Diego’s Economic and Community Development strategy is to help build business capital awareness and leverage alternative sources of financing with regulatory community reinvestment and public/private philanthropy to foster livable communities and healthy neighborhoods, nurture small business, and stimulate job creation in low-income communities in the City of San Diego or for the benefit of low-income persons.
Since receiving lending capital from Civic San Diego, Accion has deployed a total $355,000 to 30 businesses that have created or retained 84 jobs; a ratio of one job created or retained per approximately $4,000 lent.
“The investment which Civic San Diego made is truly appreciated by our organization,” said Accion CEO Elizabeth Schott. “We are a mission-based, inclusive lender that aims to fuel growth in underserved communities by offering access to capital, business advising from skilled and compassionate staff, peer networking and expert mentorship. This fund has allowed us to provide more businesses in San Diego with the support they need to be successful.”
A focus of the fund is to lend to businesses owned by women, minorities, or veterans or are certified by the State of California as “Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.” As the loans are repaid, the capital is recirculated to help even more businesses. For more information on the loan program, contact Accion at (619) 795-7250 or visit us.accion.org.
Civic San Diego is a not-for-profit public corporation created by the City of San Diego to improve the quality of life for those living and working Downtown and in historically underserved neighborhoods. Learn more about what we’re doing to make San Diego better for all at www.civicsd.com.
