Community Impact

Expanding Opportunity Where It Is Needed Most

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OnCo focuses where the gap is widest: communities where generations of entrepreneurs have been underserved not because their businesses weren’t good enough, but because the financing system wasn’t built for them. Nonprofit, CDFI-certified lending exists precisely to change that and OnCo is bringing it to the Southeast…and beyond.

Our programs prioritize entrepreneurs who are:

  • First-generation business owners
  • Located in low-to-moderate income communities
  • Fall within a specific geographic footprint
  • Underserved by traditional lenders
Through responsible lending and business education, OnCo helps entrepreneurs create lasting economic opportunity.

Where We Work

Open for borrowers

New York

Over 1,400 bank branches closed nationally in 2023. New York neighborhoods feel that impact.
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Open for borrowers

Michigan

Detroit has some of the highest concentrations of banking deserts among major U.S. cities.
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Active lending

Indiana

Indianapolis census tracts include designated banking deserts with no branch within 2 miles.
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Active lending

Virginia

Virginia’s rural communities have fewer bank branches per person than the national average.
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Active lending

Kentucky

Kentucky’s Appalachian counties rank among the most persistent poverty regions in the U.S.
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Open for borrowers

New Mexico

New Mexico has some of the highest concentrations of rural persistent poverty counties in the West.
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Focus state

Arkansas

Over 40% of Arkansas rural counties lost bank branches between 2012 and 2017.
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Focus state

Louisiana

Louisiana has the 2nd-highest unbanked rate in the nation, at 8.1% — triple the national average.
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Open for borrowers

Mississippi

Mississippi has the highest unbanked rate in the country, at 11.1% — nearly 3x the national rate.
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Focus state

Alabama

1 in 9 Alabama households is unbanked, one of the highest rates in the U.S.
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Focus state

Georgia

In rural Georgia, the unbanked rate is nearly double the rate in metro Atlanta.

 

 

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Focus state

Florida

FL has 2.6M+ small businesses, yet CDFIs approve 88% of applicants vs. 66% for large banks.
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Focus state

North Carolina

NC’s rural Black communities face mortgage denial rates more than double those in metro areas.
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Focus state

Tennessee

23%+ of Tennesseans live in rural counties, nearly double the national average of 14%.
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Focus state

West Virginia

WV has the highest share of persistently poor rural counties of any state east of the Mississippi.
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Open for borrowers

Alaska

Rural Alaska has the fewest bank branches per capita of any U.S. state.
Open for borrowers

Arizona

Hispanic-owned AZ businesses face loan denial rates nearly double those of white-owned firms.
Open for borrowers

California

CA has the most CDFIs of any state yet $150B in unmet small business credit need persists nationally.
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Colorado

Rural Colorado small businesses are 10x more likely to be in a banking desert than urban ones.
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Connecticut

1 in 5 Black small business owners nationally didn’t apply for loans fearing rejection.
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Delaware

Small businesses generate 44% of U.S. GDP but only 42% have their financing needs fully met.
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Hawaii

Native Hawaiian-owned businesses have among the lowest SBA loan approval rates in the nation.
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Idaho

Rural Idaho towns losing bank branches face documented drops in small business lending.
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Illinois

Chicago’s South Side has some of the highest banking desert rates of any major U.S. city.
Open for borrowers

Iowa

Rural Iowa has seen 40%+ of counties lose bank branches, farms and small firms bear the brunt.
Open for borrowers

Kansas

85% of persistently poor U.S. counties are rural. Kansas communities feel the lending gap daily.
Open for borrowers

Maine

Rural Maine businesses are 10x more likely than urban ones to be located in a banking desert.
Open for borrowers

Maryland

Black business owners nationally are denied loans at nearly 3x the rate of white-owned businesses.
Open for borrowers

Massachusetts

Mission-driven lenders approve 88% of applicants vs. just 15% full approval at big banks.
Open for borrowers

Minnesota

Native American-owned businesses receive the smallest share of SBA funding of any demographic group.
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Missouri

Rural MO counties losing branches face documented declines in small business loan originations.

Montana

Native-owned businesses in rural Montana are among the least served by traditional banks in the U.S.
Open for borrowers

Nebraska

In rural Nebraska, 40%+ of counties lost bank branches over one recent five-year span.
Open for borrowers

Nevada

Hispanic business owners face loan denials at nearly double the rate of white business owners.
Open for borrowers

New Hampshire

New England rural towns have broadband gaps that compound banking desert challenges.
Open for borrowers

New Jersey

Only 47% of Black-owned businesses nationally receive full loan amounts vs. 61% for white-owned.

North Dakota

Rural ND counties depend heavily on physical banks but closures have accelerated since 2019.
Open for borrowers

Ohio

Ohio’s Appalachian counties are among the most persistent poverty regions in the entire country.
Open for borrowers

Oklahoma

Native American-owned businesses receive less than 1% of national SBA loan dollars.
Open for borrowers

Oregon

Rural Oregon towns face broadband gaps and branch closures, a double hit on capital access.
Open for borrowers

Pennsylvania

PA’s rural banking deserts have expanded significantly since 2019 across the Appalachian corridor.
Open for borrowers

Rhode Island

Minority-owned small businesses carry higher debt costs and lower approval rates across the U.S.

South Dakota

Native-owned businesses on SD reservations face some of the worst bank access gaps in the U.S.
Open for borrowers

Texas

TX has the 2nd-largest concentration of Hispanic-owned businesses yet loan denial rates remain high.
Open for borrowers

Utah

Despite SBA growth, rural Utah businesses still face a $150B annual unmet credit gap nationally.

Vermont

VT rural businesses rank among the most dependent on physical banking — and branches keep closing.
Open for borrowers

Wisconsin

Rural WI counties saw bank branch declines accelerate during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Open for borrowers

Wyoming

Wyoming has some of the fewest bank branches per capita of any inland U.S. state. District of Columbia
  • OnCo Headquarters
    Charleston, South Carolina
  • Focus States
    Priority funding regions & high-impact areas
  • OnCo Eligible
    OnCo lends nationwide. Loans not available for businesses based in: MT, ND, SD, or VT.
Map highlighting:
  • Southeastern United States
  • Indiana
  • U.S.
    OnCo loan eligibility is mapped against the FFIEC CIMS tool to confirm CDFI eligibility at the census tract level.

Headquarters: Charleston, SC.

Impact Goals

Guided by our core values, OnCo seeks the following impact:
Track our Impact
  • Expand access to responsible capital.
  • Strengthen small business capacity.
  • Create and retain jobs.
  • Promote generational wealth and economic mobility.

Impact Measurement

OnCo tracks:
Regular reporting ensures our utmost transparency and accountability.
  • Loan deployment
  • Borrower demographics
  • Job creation
  • Revenue growth

$1 federal dollar → $8 in community investment

For every $1 the federal government invests in CDFIs, at least $8 in private capital follows into underserved communities.

Source: CDFI Fund

88% approval, Not 15%

CDFIs approve 88% of loan applicants. Large banks fully approve just 15%. Same entrepreneurs. Different lender.
Source: Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey
<p><strong>88%</strong> approval, Not <strong>15% </strong></p>

$135 billion into communities banks left behind

CDFI-connected investments leveraged more than $135 billion in capital into high-poverty, high-unemployment communities.
Source: CDFI Fund / NMTC Coalition
<p><strong>$135</strong> billion into communities banks left behind</p>

Borrowers save $2,700 per loan

On average, CDFI borrowers save more than $2,700 per loan compared to market-rate alternatives, including high-cost online lenders.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
<p>Borrowers save <strong>$2,700</strong> per loan</p>

One loan, Generational change

Small business ownership is the most proven pathway to generational wealth, especially for families who've never had it.
Source: U.S. Treasury / Federal Reserve
<p>One loan, Generational change</p>

A loan that builds your credit score

CDFI borrowers, especially those starting with the lowest scores, see their personal credit improve in the years after their loan.
Source: Urban Institute
<p>A loan that builds your credit score</p>
Borrower Stories
Her Store, Her Terms
Convenience & liquor
Her Store, Her Terms
Received / $960,000
She had the experience, the deal, and the drive to take full ownership of a convenience and liquor store... and buy out her partner to do it alone. Traditional lenders saw a collateral gap. OnCo saw something worth $960,000. Read how she got there.
Evansville, IN
Read the story
Stocked. Open. Essential.
Community grocery
Stocked. Open. Essential.
Received / $300,000
When supply costs climbed and conventional lenders wouldn't move, a Queens grocery store — the kind that knows its customers by name — faced empty shelves and16 jobs on the line. OnCo provided $300,000. Here's what was at stake.
Queens, NY
Read the story