Seed Lending says county microloan fund has helped close nearly $3 million in loans and supported more than 700 jobs since 2010

Belinda Turner Dubois, who manages Seed Lending’s Oakland County microloan portfolio, told the committee that since the county partnership began in 2010 Seed has closed just under $3,000,000 of loans supported by Oakland County allocations and has created 422 jobs while retaining 289. "Since 2010 when we started, up through now, we have closed just under $3,000,000 with the $725,000 that has been provided from Oakland County," Turner Dubois said.

County board members asked how the additional $125,000 allocation will be used; Turner Dubois said $25,000 is for operations and $100,000 goes to a loan loss reserve that allows Seed to leverage additional SBA funds. She also described a parallel state-funded "Lyft" loan product to serve riskier deals or applicants who do not meet the SBA citizenship requirement. The committee received and filed the Seed Lending report.