NCIC joins NH Community Loan Fund
by Steve Varnum
on February 26, 2024
The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund and Northern Community Investment Capital (NCIC) have completed their merger, connecting two of the state’s longest-serving community development organizations.
NCIC will maintain its current staff and identity and remain open to serve communities in NH’s North Country and Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The organization plans to relocate from St. Johnsbury, VT to Littleton, NH this spring.
NCIC provides commercial lending, grant writing, project management, and technical assistance grants to NH and VT businesses and municipalities. It began seeking a partner aligned with its mission and values several years ago, in a strategic plan for better sustainability.
“This merger with the Community Loan Fund is very positive for the North Country and the Northeast Kingdom,” said Peter Corey, Vice President of NCIC. "It enables NCIC to serve our traditional stakeholders with the programs we already have while simultaneously allowing us to leverage the Community Loan Fund’s programs and capacity in our region.”
The Community Loan Fund makes loans statewide to and on behalf of people and communities with low or moderate incomes, including for affordable homeownership, energy solutions, nonprofits and child care, and to support resident-owned manufactured-home communities (ROCs) and small businesses.
“The bottom line is our organizations can do more together than we can do alone,” said Community Loan Fund President & CEO Steve Saltzman. “This was an opportunity to deepen our work not only in the North Country, but over the border in Vermont, while at the same time supporting NCIC and its talented staff.”
The Community Loan Fund, which began 40 years ago with a grant from the North Country, has done significant work in the region. It helped convert 32 North Country manufactured-home parks to resident ownership, preserving close to 1,600 affordable homes. It has made loans to the Littleton Food Co-op, Kheops International, North Country Marketplace, AHEAD, and helped prevent the closure of Country Day School in Colebrook.