The NCIF 2016 Impact Report

From Our President and CEO

NCIF supports entrepreneurs in underserved central Appalachian and Southeastern communities who create jobs by growing environmentally responsible businesses and providing vital community services. Our goal? Build resilient, thriving communities with diverse economies, strong local food systems, and healthy natural resources and residents. We do this by providing business advisory services and loans to companies and nonprofits who can’t access traditional financing. In 2016, we made a record $8.41 million in loans, 82 percent to economically distressed communities. NCIF launched new strategic initiatives to serve more minority borrowers and help coal-impacted communities transition to a more diversified economy.

We are grateful for the funders and volunteers who support NCIF’s work. And we’re proud to share the accomplishments of the businesses we work with, who are doing more than just meeting their bottom line — they are making a positive impact.

– Marten R. Jenkins, Jr., President & CEO

2016 Impacts

Impact Summary

	2016	2001-2016
Jobs created/retained by active portfolio companies and farms	705	3,886
Loans	$8.41 M	$34.13 M
Companies funded	35	208
Hours of advisory services	3,009	17,111
Advisory services clients	150	924

Impact Spotlight

360,000

local apples purchased, Hawk Knob Cidery, Lewisburg, WV

100%

wood fiber utilized, Powell Valley Millwork, Clay City, KY

Certified

as a B Corp and Living Wage Employer, Eastern Carolina Organics, Durham NC

59%

of businesses reported higher profits

10.5 M LBS

of shingles recycled, Griffin Waste Services, Asheville, NC

81.8%

loans in economically distressed communities

30.5%

loans to women & minority borrowers

Portfolio Companies

2001 — 2016

Click on a dot on the map to see details about an NCIF portfolio company

Loans by Sector 2001 - 2016

Total $34,401,723
piechart

27% - Local Foods & Value-Added Agriculture
15% - Eco- and Heritage Tourism
10% - Consumer Products/Services
10% - Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency
7% - Recycling & Environmental Services
7% - Production Agriculture
7% - Health & Community Services
6% - Manufacturing & Technology
6% - Forest Products
3% - Natural Medicine/Products
1% - Main Street Redevelopment

What Borrowers Say

A lot of traditional banks don’t understand the cash flow needs that come with a seasonal business committed to supporting local agriculture. NCIF was a natural fit for us, understood the challenges we faced, and was able to provide the funding we needed to grow our production capacity and build our inventory so that we could service more stores and really grow our business.
– Jessica DeMarco, Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon, Waynesville, North Carolina

One of the biggest challenges facing small businesses is finding access to capital. When we connected with NCIF, they understood the challenges we were facing and were willing to take a chance with us, to loan us the money we needed to take our idea to the next level. It was incredibly exciting.
– Art O’Neill, Bearwaters Brewing, Canton, North Carolina

Natural Capital Investment Fund was a great lender to work with, especially on a project that is as unique as ours—it’s agriculture, it’s food processing, and it’s not your typical business. We met with several lenders who had a hard time wrapping their head around what we do and where we’re trying to go. NCIF understood our concept right away, and stuck with us and helped us grow in a way that traditional lenders just wouldn’t understand.
– Jen Perkins, Looking Glass Creamery, Fairview, North Carolina

Special Initiatives

How do you build healthy, strong communities?

Foster Innovation

Across southern West Virginia, communities who depended on coal are struggling to bounce back. The opportunity? Cultivate entrepreneurs who harness the region’s natural beauty to create jobs and improve the quality of life in coal-impacted communities. More than 40,000 off-road enthusiasts come to southern West Virginia annually to ride the 600+ miles of trails in the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System, but find lodging and other amenities in short supply.

We are partnering with the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority on the Southern West Virginia Tourism Initiative to provide capital and business advisory services to growing businesses that fill those gaps. Over time, we aim to build an entrepreneurial culture and burgeoning businesses employing hundreds in the outdoor recreation, tourism and equipment sectors.

My vision is that the trails will connect a whole string of small towns with vibrant main streets—everything from fudge shops to stores selling ATV accessories made right here. We need new businesses, and we also need to help our small machine shops transition to a post-coal economy.

Honestly, if we started from scratch to design a partner to help us get there, we’d have designed NCIF. They bring loan capital for responsible businesses, a focus on rural areas, and they have the ability to bring in outside experts so borrowers have a higher probability of success. For NCIF, it’s about building communities, not just getting loans on the books.

— Jeff Lusk, Executive Director, Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreational Authority, Lyburn, West Virginia

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

Support Diversity

Diversity is as important in communities as it is in nature. Through our Farmers of Color Initiative, we are committed to providing access to capital and business advisory services to minority-owned businesses and farmers.

Earthseed Land Cooperative supports the collective health, wealth and environmental sustainability of diverse communities through creative stewardship of farmland and forests near Durham, North Carolina. In 2016, NCIF teamed with Triangle Land Conservancy to help Earthseed finance and permanently conserve 33 acres of land. The cooperative can now host outdoor education classes and weddings, incubate a horticulture nursery, small businesses and niche farms, and serve as a unique community resource for people of color in the area.

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

Catalyze Clean Energy

Clean energy and energy efficiency have multiple benefits for communities. They are good for the environment, increase business profitability and create skilled job opportunities.

Through 2016, our Energy Efficient Enterprise Initiative helped small businesses and farms with 62 energy audits and 39 loans for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

NCIF’s 2016 loan helped Asheville, North Carolina-based solar installer SolFarm Solar Company double in size, adding employees and equipment to meet the growing demand for affordable solar energy in the Carolinas and Tennessee.

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

Create a Healthy Local Food System

Access to healthy food is the bedrock of a resilient community. We provide financing and coaching to businesses from field to fork to support access to local, sustainably-raised and grown food, and the economic boost that comes with it.

Family-owned Sickler Farm supplies restaurants, grocery stores and families in Moatsville, West Virginia, with fresh, local produce. Our micro-loan for a wood-fired boiler helped them heat their greenhouses more efficiently and extend their growing season.

NCIF borrower Fullsteam Brewery not only makes great beer. The company is also a leader in the Durham, North Carolina Living Wage Project (providing 25 jobs) and a leader in local sourcing: over 17 tons of local grains, fruit and nuts in 2016 were used in Fullsteam’s ales and porters.

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

Deliver Vital Community Services

Doctors, day cares and schools keep a community functioning. While not NCIF’s typical “green” borrowers, they provide the foundation on which communities can thrive.

Moore Vision Center is Boone County, West Virginia’s only full-time eye care center. In a rural community with high rates of systemic diseases such as diabetes, access to optometry is critical for early detection and quality treatment. When Dr. Marty Moore needed help strengthening his business in a tough economic climate, he came to NCIF and the Center for Rural Health Development for financing to continue this important health care service to Boone County and surrounding communities.

I run a small optometry business in an area that has lost thousands of jobs to coal’s decline over the past decade. When the most recent economic downturn hit, we needed financing to re-align our business, but local banks didn’t want to hear anything about our situation. Fortunately, our local SBA office referred us to NCIF. Kevin [O’Connor, NCIF’s West Virginia Business Lender] took the time to really understand our business and said, ‘This would work!’ The NCIF loan has been a life changer. We’re stronger now than any time in the past seven years and are on a path to make much more informed decisions.”

— Dr. Marty Moore, Moore Vision Center, Madison, West Virginia

NCIF Board of Directors and Staff

Board of Directors

Gat Caperton, Chair
Caperton Furniture Works
Mikki Sager, Vice Chair
The Conservation Fund
Jerrell “J” Deaver, Jr.
First Citizens Bank
Randall (Randy) Gore
USDA Rural Development (retired)
Archie Hart
N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
W. A. “Tony” Hayes
Trancas, LLC
Ruth Joseck
United Bank
Jena Thompson Meredith
The Conservation Fund
Erik Meyers
The Conservation Fund
Evan Smith
The Conservation Fund

The Natural Capital Investment Fund takes an entrepreneurial, creative approach to sustainability that begins with the environment but also looks beyond that to examine how we can support people, communities and local economies. I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished and excited about what we will be able to achieve going forward.
– Gat Caperton, Owner, Caperton Furniture Works and NCIF Board Chair

Staff

Marten Jenkins
President and CEO

Erika McGilley
Western North Carolina Business Lender

Rosalind L. Black
Director of Finance

Kevin O'Connor
West Virginia Business Lender

Quinn Coleman
Business Lender & Credit Analyst

Kristy Sitton
Loan Closing Specialist

TF Congleton
Eastern North Carolina Business Lender

Anna Tefft
Senior Vice President and Director of Lending

Janette DeLapa
Staff Accountant

Hannah Vargason
Energy Project Manager

Bob Keel
Loan Fund Administrator

Justin White
West Virginia Business Lender

Rick Larson
Senior Vice President and Director of Strategic Initiatives

Invest With Us

NCIF offers investors the unique opportunity to back companies that create jobs and benefit the environment in distressed communities. By growing our pool of capital, investors can help mission-driven entrepreneurs achieve economic and environmental success.

NCIF has funded over 200 businesses and non-profit enterprises while maintaining low loss rates. We credit this success to our rigorous underwriting process and the technical support we provide to our borrowers. We maintain a AA+3 rating from AERIS, a third-party auditor of community development financial institutions. To inquire about investments in Natural Capital Investment Fund, contact Marten Jenkins, CEO, at
304-876-2815, ext. 207.

Funders and Investors

Appalachian Regional Commission
Appalachian Power
Associated Hardwoods, Inc.
Branch Banking & Trust CRA & Community Development
Branch Banking & Trust West Virginia Foundation
Calvert Foundation
CEI Capital Management, LLC
Central Appalachian Network
Charles M. and Mary D. Grant Foundation
Citi Communities at Work Fund
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Clients of Fresh Pond Capital
Clients of Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management, LLC
Clients of the Sustainability Group /
Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge Trust, LLC
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI)
Darrin & Shaula Massena Family Fund
First Citizens Bank
Ford Foundation
Gat Creek
Golden LEAF Foundation
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation
HSBC Technology & Services (USA), Inc.
JP Morgan Chase
Just Transition Fund
Laughing Gull Foundation
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
McKnight Foundation
NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund
NC Rural Economic Development Center
NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission
NCIF Board, Staff and Friends
Nora Roberts Foundation
One Foundation
PNC Community Development Co.
PNC Foundation
Price Romine, PLLC
SunTrust Bank
Starbucks - Create Jobs for USA
TD Bank
TD Charitable Foundation
United Bank
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
USDA Rural Development
U.S. Department of Treasury – CDFI Fund
U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
U.S. Economic Development Administration
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Wells Fargo Community Investment Holding, Inc.
Wells Fargo Diverse Community Capital Program
Wells Fargo Foundation
West Virginia Capital Access Program
West Virginia Community Advancement and Development Partnership
West Virginia Infrastructure Jobs and Development Council
Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund
Winston-Salem Community Foundation
Woodforest National Bank
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation