CEI lands $20M USDA loan to boost community building projects in rural Maine

Photo / Tim Greenway CEI CEO Betsy Biemann and CEI President Keith Bisson outside their new Brunswick offices. CEI was awarded a $20 million loan from the USDA that can be re-loaned to fund the purchase, construction or improvement of community facilities in high-poverty rural areas.

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By James McCarthy

Coastal Enterprises Inc. learned Thursday it will receive a direct $20 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that can be re-loaned to fund the purchase, construction or improvement of community facilities in high-poverty rural areas.

The Brunswick-based nonprofit is one of 26 community development organizations nationwide to receive a total of $401 million in funding through the USDA’s Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program.

“This is a very significant amount of funding to be awarded to any organization through this program,” USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel told Mainebiz in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. “CEI is the only recipient of any funding of this kind in New England.”

Manuel said the USDA loan is based on CEI’s nationally recognized track record as a Community Development Financial Institution in supporting rural communities both in Maine and across the nation. The $20 million, she said, “will enable CEI to bolster opportunity to our vibrant communities through relending, thereby supporting essential community facilities that Maine’s rural residents rely on.”

“Vibrant rural communities need more than individual businesses to thrive,” added Betsy Biemann, CEO of CEI, in a statement announcing the award. “They also need community resources that contribute to quality of life and help to retain and attract families and entrepreneurs. CEI has financed child care centers, a nonprofit school serving youths with behavioral challenges, federally qualified health centers and other nonprofit facilities.”

How the program works

As a re-lender, CEI will use the $20 million loan to provide fixed-interest loans at competitive rates to eligible applicants. Examples of eligible community facilities include:

Libraries, museums or private schools

Community support services such as senior centers, child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing.

Hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted-living facilities.

Town halls, courthouse, airport hangars or street improvements

Telemedicine or distance learning equipment

Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses

Fire or police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment.

Manuel said the USDA expects the financing announced Thursday will help CEI and the other loan recipients to leverage additional private or philanthropic investments in rural communities.

“They have a five-year period in which to invest that money,” she said. “They don’t have to spend $20 million in the first year.”

CEI President Keith Bisson told Mainebiz that CEI will be working with USDA Rural Development’s Maine office to develop specific guidelines for the program, as well as marketing it to targeted areas. In the meantime, he said, interested parties can go to the CEI website to learn more about its work as a mission-driven lender and investor specializing in rural economic development.

CEI’s rural lending maintains a focus on micro and small businesses, including natural resources-based industries, affordable housing, renewable energy, microlending and community facilities such as health care. Of its current $39.1 million loan portfolio, $26.9 million, or 68%, is invested in rural regions.

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