New C. Oregon lender helping businesses grow

A non-profit lender has moved into Central Oregon with a mission to help businesses bring jobs and economic strength to the community.

Turner Waskom at Craft 3 says he’s amazed at the amount of startup companies and entrepreneurs there are in the community.

Entrepreneurs are exactly who Craft 3 in Bend wants to help. The non-profit provides loans to businesses that have a tough time getting traditional loans from a bank.

“Those companies struggle a lot of times to get the capital and the financing they need to grow. And that’s where Craft 3 can step in and be of assistance,” Waskom says.

Craft 3 is not a bank, but a community development financial institution. Its mission is to help businesses create jobs and economic opportunity. They step in with the capital, and show businesses how you get from this point to a bankable position.

The Deschutes Land Trust, a land conservation group, says their relationship with Craft 3 helps bridge timing gaps in grant-writing and fund-raising.

Zak Boone with the conservation group tells us, “We were able to close the deal, or at least get an option on the deal, knowing that the financing was in place — that’s huge/ And once we have that in place and are able to purchase the property, we are able to back-fill with private fund-raising and grants.”

Waskom says as a community development financial institution, they’re different than a traditional bank.

They say their bottom line is more about the impact on the community and isn’t profit-driven. Craft 3 says it’s an ongoing advocate for businesses in the community.

“Our mission is to impact and to serve the communities that we’re in,” Waskom says.

The newest clients of Craft 3 are the owners of the new Rat Hole Brewing Company at the Old Mill. Craft 3 helped finance the brewpub, which opened a couple of weeks ago.

For more information: http://www.craft3.org/Home