2015 (SFY 2014) Ohio CDC
Microbusiness Development
Program
Application Webinar
August 8, 2014
Changes to Program in 2014 and 2015
 Program structure
 Grant period
 Grant size
 Electronic application submission
 Fund disbursement
Program Structure
Long-Term Goals
 Increasing geographic reach of
microbusiness in Ohio
 Better leveraging of existing resources
 Improved evaluation, training and
technical assistance
 Create Ohio Microbusiness Network with
AmeriCorps*VISTA capacity building
 Spring 2015 Microbusiness Summit
Grant Period
Fourteen months to close out grant.
All activities completed in twelve months.
All funds must be drawn down 13th month
Funds expended, final performance report submitted
and ready for closeout by the end of 14th month.
 A timeline of the project, including when the
outcomes are anticipated to be met, should be
included in the application.




Grant Award Size
 $575,000 of OHTF/CDC funds
 The maximum award to an organization is $50,000
• A maximum of 40% of grant amount may be used for
lending.
• A maximum of 10% of grant amount may be used for
administrative costs
Fund Disbursement
 Draws for administration/training/TA can be
requested at any time with the
disbursement form. Form and backup can
be provided by e-mail.
 On-demand loan fund disbursement
 Rhonda Foreman, OCDCA Fiscal Manager
(614) 461-6392 x 210
rforeman@ohiocdc.org
Monitoring and Evaluation
 microTracker
•
•
Microenterprise Census (FIELD at the Aspen Institute) will help
OCDCA and MDO’s deepen knowledge of the microbusiness
industry in Ohio for advocacy and research.
microTracker will enable OCDCA grantees to benchmark and
analyze program performance (paid by OCDCA).
 Annual site visits
 Mid-year Progress Report
Application

Submission deadline: The application must be received by September 5, 2014.

Submitted electronically via e-mail in PDF format in a ZIP file or
mailed/delivered to OCDCA office saved to flash/thumb drive.

New office address – 100 E. Broad Street, Suite 502, Columbus, OH 43215

The application should be organized in the same sequence as the instructions.

In order for the application to be considered complete by OCDCA, the
required sections and exhibits must be included in the applicant's submission.
Applications missing any of the required exhibits will not be eligible for
funding.

Anticipated funding announcements: October 2014

Award date: January 1, 2014
Definition
 Microbusinesses: For-profit entities with five or fewer
employees, one of whom owns the business.
 Microbusinesses: Do not generally have access to the
commercial banking sector. Therefore, this program
intends to provide funding for CDC’s to further develop
a local delivery system that encourages microbusiness
development, and to provide low- and moderateincome persons with access to capital for business
development and self-employment.
 Microbusiness and microenterprise used
interchangeably.
Eligible Activities
 Training and/or technical assistance to for-profit entities.
 Financial assistance through direct or shared loans to private, forprofit entities or individuals to support self-employment and job
creation/retention.
• Working Capital Loans are eligible.
 Every activity assisted with grant funds must meet the lowmoderate income benefit, based on HUD Section 8 Income Limits.
• The microbusiness assisted will create or retain jobs, 51% or
more of which will benefit LMI persons.
• Participants in training programs must meet LMI qualification.
Eligibility Criteria
 The organization must be incorporated with the Ohio Secretary of
State as a private, non-profit for at least two years;
 The organization must be a dues paying member of the Ohio CDC
Association;
 The organization must have its 501(c)(3) designation by the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS);
 The non-profit’s board must have one-third of its board members
determined to be low- and moderate-income persons or
representative of low- and moderate-income organizations;
 The non-profit’s board must submit a resolution authorizing
submission of the application;
Eligibility Criteria cont’d.
 Applicant organization must be community-based and have a
development focus;
 Applicant must submit recent financials or an audited financial
statement with the application;
 The project must benefit low- and moderate-income persons in
the designated target area.
 As previously, existing grantees must have expended at least 40%
of any open Microbusiness grant at the time of the September 5th
application deadline (applicable to training/technical
assistance/administration – not loans).
Rating Criteria
1. Organization Capacity
•
Human Resource Capacity
•
•
•
Staff expertise, experience, and education
Staffing levels of program components
Financial Resource Capacity
•
Program budget
2. Program Design
•
•
•
•
Client Identification and Outreach
Training and Technical Assistance Program
Loan Approval, Structuring and Servicing (if applicable)
Partnerships
Rating Criteria
3. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation
• Program Outcomes and Outputs
• Training enrollments/completion, loan applications/received (if
applicable), technical assistance (if applicable), business starts, business
expansions, jobs created/retained
• Program Timeline
• Program Sustainability
• Leverage of other public and private funds
• Previous program performance (current and past grantees)
Contact
 Nate Coffman, Executive Director
 Telephone: 614.461.6392 ext. 207
 Email: ncoffman@ohiocdc.org