About Us

To Our Stakeholders,

Common Capital’s fiscal year, which ended on June 30, 2022, was our most successful ever! Our team worked hard to make loans totaling $2.2 million to 27 small businesses in the four counties of Western Massachusetts. This 72% growth in loan volume compared to the prior year resulted in our largest loan portfolio ever: 104 borrowers with $5.9 million in loans outstanding.

Since the mission of our organization is to create economic opportunities for historically underserved businesses, we are especially proud of the diversity of our loan activity this year: 17 of the 27 businesses we financed are owned by people with low-to-moderate income and 13 are owned by People of Color; 14 are woman-owned businesses and 13 are startups. Common Capital’s financing helped these entrepreneurs create or preserve 92.5 local jobs.

Common Capital provides free business assistance to our borrowers and other small businesses that is designed to support their business growth and success. In FY 2022, our team and the experts we hire from the community provided over 3,400 hours of direct business assistance to more than 600 small, local businesses. We are grateful to our business consultants for helping so many entrepreneurs achieve their dreams!

As of June 30, 2022, Common Capital’s loan portfolio totaled $5.9 million, including loans to:

  • Businesses owned by people with low-to-moderate-income: 56%
  • Businesses owned by People of Color: 53%
  • Businesses located in low-to-moderate income census tracts: 52%
  • Startup businesses: 46%

Since our founding in 1990, Common Capital has made loans totaling $29.9 million to nearly 800 businesses, which helped create or retain close to 2,000 jobs.

We are also grateful to our financial supporters, which include donors as well as investors. Our most important investors are the eighty-five socially responsible individuals who have invested $1.5 million in our Community First Fund. These investments provide the very important, highly flexible loan capital that we need the most, and we thank each of these investors for their commitment to the entrepreneurial economy. Moreover, we invite you to join us with a minimum investment of $500.00, on which you can earn a competitive interest rate; please contact me for more information.

Our Work Continues

In FY 2023, we are hard at work scaling up our loan activity to assist many more small businesses in Western Massachusetts. Common Capital is also planning to expand its business assistance program for both borrowers and non-borrowers as we work to ensure that entrepreneurs in Western Massachusetts have the financial knowledge and skills necessary to successfully manage and grow their businesses, and in turn increase the stability, longevity, and value of their businesses.

From Springfield to Northfield, from Ludlow to Lanesborough, and beyond, small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and vital members of our communities. Please help us support local entrepreneurs by sharing what you know about Common Capital with your neighbors, referring your favorite local business to us when they need capital to expand, and investing in Common Capital’s Community First Fund.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Raymond Lanza-Weil, President

(413) 222-6635

rlanzaweil@commoncapitalma.org

Raymond Lanza-Weil
President

Callie Niezgoda Flanagan
Director of Lending

Roberto Nieves
Director of Outreach and Communications

Emil Farjo
Business Assistance Manager

Kimberly Gaughan
Loan Fund Manager

Jay Kozak
Loan Officer

Eliz Cuevas
Loan Officer

Jordan Rakauskas
Loan Officer

Click below to view our audited financial statements:

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