Carolina Small Business Development Fund
The Triangle
Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit guided by the belief that when small businesses succeed, everyone benefits. When we first opened our doors in 1990 as the North Carolina Minority Support Center, we were providing technical assistance to financial institutions and entrepreneurs, and in our first 20 years of service to our state, we administered millions of dollars in grants to help address the needs of unserved and underserved people and communities.
When the financial crisis of 2008 threatened Main Street firms across our state and nation, our leadership knew that we were in the position to not only double down on our work serving underserved communities, but to expand our services as well. We ushered in a new era for our work in 2011, when we made our first loan to a North Carolina small business, and eventually became a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in 2013. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic aftershocks, we doubled down once again and expanded our services to ensure that our state’s small businesses could succeed, and the communities they serve would benefit.
Since opening in 1990, we have met entrepreneurs at the crossroads of hardship and opportunity,and we will continue to light the way forward for whatever comes next.
To foster economic development in underserved communities by providing capital, technical assistance, and policy research to light the way for small businesses.
Programs
- Business Solutions
- VIVID DIGITAL CLASSROOM
- CSBDF en Español
carolinasmallbusiness.org
