MACED: the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development

MACED (pronounced May-sed) provides micro-lending and technical assistance to small businesses in Kentucky and Central Appalachia, with a focus on 54 Appalachian counties in Kentucky. It also provides education and outreach with an emphasis on environmental sustainability.

MACED recently completed a pilot program – the Common Cents Financial Initiative – that provided small-dollar loans and savings mechanisms for low to moderate income working families in Appalachia, a region known for its high rates of poverty. The initiative was designed as an alternative to payday lenders. According to one MACED official payday lenders are a thriving industry in Kentucky, where one new payday lender opens for business about every four days.

Working through 11 local employers, the initiative provided loans of between $300 and $500, for 10 month terms at 18% interest. Borrowers also received financial education courses, and they were required to maintain savings accounts. Between May 2007 and November 2009 a total 410 of these “Save-It!” loans were made totaling $133,350. Loan funding and disbursement was totally electronic, relying on the automated clearing house (ACH) and prepaid debit cards. As of November 2009, this program was placed on hold and MACED was said to be looking for a financial institution partner if the program is to start anew.

MACED offers several types of business loans including equipment, real estate, working capital and lines of credit. It also supports loan programs targeted to specific industry sectors (such as health care and day care) and to businesses that support sustainable asset development and protection (such as eco-tourism) and renewable energy projects.

In November 2009 MACED was one of 59 community development organizations to receive funds from the U.S. Treasury under a package of emergency economic measures collectively known as the federal stimulus package. MACED's director of enterprise development, Bill Schutters, said at the time the $2 million it received would be used to support businesses that can create more “green” jobs for the region, where coal mines long have been the dominant employers.

More than 8,200 federally-insured financial institutions were collecting deposits and/or making loans to the U.S. "banking public" as of March 31, 2009.

_-FDIC