Cascade Harvest Coalition Blogs Feed

Food Finance Series: Whatcom Leads the Charge with its Microloan Program

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:11:03 -0500

Just moments ago I received an email announcing a microloan program for Whatcom and Skagit County farmers. The 'Farm Fund' is administered by Community Food Coop and sponsored by the Whatcom Community Foundation and has already funded 7 projects this year. Each microloan is between $2,000 and $5,000 in value at 3% interest.

Food Finance Series: HumanLinks Foundation Sustainable Farmer Loan Fund

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:49:21 -0500

The HumanLinks Foundation Loan Program, administered by Banner Bank, offers small loans ($2.5K-$25K) at low interest rates (3%) to sustainable farmers in Washington state. The initial application identifies four criteria used by the bank when vetting applicants: credit, cash flow projections, capacity for repayment (related to cash flow), and the applicant's character. That's all pretty straightforward except that I don't see collateral on the list.

Councilmember Larry Phillips Announces King County Community Garden Legislation

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:41:23 -0500

Thanks for your interest and involvement in our local food movement. I am pleased to announce that today the Metropolitan King County Council today took a step toward helping promote urban agriculture by unanimously adopting legislation calling for the creation and management of community gardens on county-owned land throughout urban King County. I was proud to sponsor and vote in favor this legislation.