(Los Angeles, CA – September 15, 2015) – National Cooperative Bank (NCB) and Self-Help Federal Credit Union today announced the closing of a $635,000 partnership loan to With Love Market & Café. The financing will help With Love Market & Café open a 3,000 square foot start-up grocery market and café in a Southwest Los Angeles food desert.
NCB, a leading financial services company dedicated to serving cooperatives nationwide, is participating on the loan with Self-Help Federal Credit Union, a leading national Community Development Financial Institution. The joint loan allows NCB and Self-Help to share the risk in order to provide With Love Market & Café financing beyond conventional lending parameters. Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Corporation also provided an 80% loan guarantee via the State of California Small Business Loan Guarantee Program.
“National Cooperative Bank has had a commitment to the food sector for over 30 years and we are very excited to work with another cooperative organization in Self-Help Federal Credit Union to finance With Love Market & Café,” said Michael Novak, Senior Vice President of National Cooperative Bank. “Providing healthy, local food for the area’s residents is critical to NCB’s mission and we look forward to the partnership for many years.”
The loan is part of Self-Help’s nationwide program to finance cooperatives and other enterprises that facilitate access to healthy foods. To date, Self-Help has provided over $15 million in financing to 34 healthy food systems projects. On September 10, Self-Help received a $3 million CDFI Fund Healthy Foods Financing Initiative grant to expand its healthy foods lending.
“Self-Help is working to help ensure healthy foods are available in all communities – not just those with resources,” said Steve Saltzman, Self-Help’s Director of Healthy Food System Finance. “National Cooperative Bank’s willingness to partner with Self-Help on this loan is helping ensure With Love Market’s ability to make healthy food available in Southwest LA, a hard working community that now lacks quality food options.”
In addition to the grocery store and café, With Love Market will include a community development arm focused on providing heath and food courses and seminars in a community meeting space. The business aims to be the neighborhood’s source of produce and other healthy foods as well as a public community hub and learning space. Located at1969 S. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles, With Love is aiming to open by the end of the year.
With Love CEO Andrew McDowell said that "Partnering with Self-Help Credit Union and National Cooperative Bank on this unprecedented loan was equally rewarding as it was challenging. Though we all had to flex and adjust many times beyond our previous comfort level we were held together by each group’s driving passion, beyond financial gain, to improve healthy food access and empower urban poor communities. With Love could not have found better partners and we look forward to all our future work independently and together!"