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A Subsidiary of NC Rural Center

Client Message

To our Thread Capital clients

Effective May 1, 2024, Thread Capital is not accepting new loan applications while we undertake a strategic assessment regarding the long-term future of our direct micro-lending program. Here’s everything you need to know:

Background and context

Six years ago in May 2018, the NC Rural Center launched a new Community Development Financial Institution or CDFI called Thread Capital. Our vision was a North Carolina where everyone who has a viable idea for a business that they want to start or grow has access to the resources they need to Thrive.

From the beginning, the mission of Thread Capital has been to provide capital, coaching, and connections to small businesses that have traditionally had challenges accessing resources. Our specific focus has been on small businesses that are owned by people of color, women, low-income individuals, and rural-based individuals. Since May 2018, much has changed for Thread Capital, the NC Rural Center, and small business owners.

Here are the key milestones that led us to the need to pause our current operations to conduct a thorough and strategic assessment of our direct, micro-lending program and how we move into the future in a way that ensures maximum impact and effectiveness:

  • Thread Capital joined a coalition of North Carolina CDFIs led by the NC Rural Center and the Golden LEAF Foundation to deliver the NC Rapid Recovery Loan Program during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thread provided approximately 53% of nearly 2,300 loans totaling nearly $140 MM to business owners across North Carolina who were struggling to save their businesses and survive the effects of a global pandemic.
  • Largely as a result of COVID-19, several milestones occurred that have enabled the NC Rural Center to build a robust cadre of programming designed to provide additional capacity and resources to North Carolina’s CDFIs, such as the following:
        • As the nation struggled to recover from COVID-19, the State Small Business Credit Initiative was reauthorized by Congress in 2021. SSBCI includes the Capital Access Program or CAP and the Loan Participation Program or LPP. North Carolina’s CDFIs that offer small business loans are eligible to participate in the programs with the exception of Thread Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rural Center, the administrator of SSBCI.
        • The NC Rural Center entered into a partnership with Truist Bank to create a Loan Participation Program (LPP) targeted specifically to CDFIs in the 17-state footprint of Truist, primarily the southeastern United States. This program known as CornerSquare Community Capital marked the first time in 33 years that the NC Rural Center agreed to offer a program beyond the boundaries of North Carolina. We did so to invest in building the strength and capacity of CDFIs in the South, a region of the country that hasn’t traditionally had the strongest CDFI ecosystem. Again, Thread Capital is excluded from participation because it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Rural Center, the program administrator of CornerSquare Community
        • The NC General Assembly provided a $5 MM appropriation to the NC Rural Center to launch a state-based CDFI Grant Program designed to provide operational support to North Carolina CDFIs who offer small business loans. Unfortunately, Thread Capital is not able to participate since the NC Rural Center administers the NC CDFI Grant

If we’ve learned anything through the years, it is that you cannot be all things to all people. This knowledge requires the board of directors of the NC Rural Center and Thread Capital to make thoughtful and strategic decisions about where to allocate resources in a way that ensures maximum impact and effectiveness. We expect this process to take the next 6-9 months, and we are open-minded about where this process leads us. Our commitment remains to the vision and mission of Thread Capital and the NC Rural Center, and our decision will reflect our assessment of the best way we can utilize Thread and Rural Center resources to achieve that vision and mission.

Existing borrowers. If you are a current borrower with Thread Capital, your loan will continue to be serviced and customer service support will be provided to you. You may reach us by calling us at 919-250-4314, then Option 4, or by emailing us at [email protected]. If you leave a message, you will receive a response within 48 hours. Pending loan applicants. If you have submitted a loan application but have not received a decision with regard to your application from Thread Capital, your application will be processed and a decision will be made regarding your application. Should you need to reach us, you can do so by calling us at 919-250-4314, then Option 4, or by emailing us at [email protected]. If you leave a message, you will receive a response within 48 hours. Need to know where else you can apply? Referrals to other lenders are available upon request. You can make your request by calling us at 919-250-4314, then Option 4, or by emailing us at [email protected]. If you leave a message, you will receive a response within 48 hours.