Investments by Coastal Enterprises Inc. created or retained nearly 1,400 jobs in 2024
File Photo / Tim Greenway
Khadija El Barkaoui, founder of Coelle Travel, received CEI support in 2024.
Coastal Enterprises Inc., a Brunswick-based community development financial institution, said it deployed $22.9 million invested in 129 businesses, 98% of them Maine-based, in its last fiscal year, in the form of loans, microloans, equity and tax credit-motivated financing.
Nearly two thirds of the loans went to businesses owned by people underserved by the traditional financial system, including rural businesses, women-owned businesses and/or entrepreneurs of color, immigrants or refugees, according to the organization’s 2024 impact report.
The investments included 50 "Wicked Fast" quick-decision microloans totaling $975,000 and two equity investments.
All together, 1,396 jobs were created or retained by businesses receiving CEI funding, according to the report.
The figures are up from 2023, when CEI’s impact included $21.9 million invested in 106 unique businesses, 99 of them Maine-based.
In 2024, the entire CEI family of organizations, which includes subsidiaries that work nationally (30 Federal Street Investments, CEI Ventures Inc., CEI-Boulos Capital Management and CEI Capital Management) deployed $132.5 million to 162 businesses.
That’s up from 2023, when CEI invested $88.9 million in total through its family of organizations.
Redefining ‘risk’
CEI said it redefined "risk" in lending and investing by looking beyond traditional metrics and biases, in order to prioritize people and communities overlooked by mainstream finance providers.
“The money CEI lent me absolutely helped,” said Ali Jabbar.
Formerly a lawyer in Iraq, Jabbar owned and sold a limousine business in Houston, Texas, then moved to Maine and launched a limo service in southern Maine called PWM Transportation in March 2024.
Jabbar said he used the loan from CEI on car maintenance, advertisement and insurance, with some saved in case of emergency.
Business development
- CEI staff provided 6,739 hours of free business one-on-one advising and 1,626 people participated in a training workshop or peer group programs, like the BIPOC Women’s Business Navigator program.
- 834 people accessed homebuyer/homeowner education, housing counseling, or credit and financial counseling.
- 134 people participated in the CEI Child Care Business Lab.
“The BIPOC Women’s Business Navigator program has been a fantastic support for Coelle Travel, addressing the unique challenges faced by BIPOC women entrepreneurs,” said Khadija El Barkaoui, an indigenous Moroccan of the Amazigh peoples who owns the travel startup and is a 2024 Mainebiz 40 Under 40 honoree.
CEI subsidiaries
Additional investments in Maine and communities with low incomes across the country, primarily but not exclusively in rural regions and small gateway cities, included:
- 30 Federal Street Investments leveraged $18 million in Maine Historic Tax Credit financing to support the rehabilitation of seven new and seven ongoing historic redevelopments in Maine, creating 75 affordable housing units.
- CEI Ventures Inc. made $1.3 million in equity investments into seven growth-oriented businesses in Maine and New England, supporting an estimated 305 jobs.
- CEI-Boulos Capital Management invested $26 million in six high-impact real estate developments across the country that will create an estimated 1,674 jobs and 566 units of affordable housing.
- CEI Capital Management placed $63 million of New Markets Tax Credit financing in six rural manufacturing enterprises nationwide that supports an estimated 2,050 jobs.
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