The Northland Foundation is a certified Community Development Financial Institution providing flexible financing and technical assistance to businesses and some nonprofits in our region.

A vibrant region includes a supportive business ecosystem, with equitable access to capital and technical assistance. The Northland Foundation has been a non-traditional business lender and development resource for more than 35 years. We help people start, sustain, and grow their business dreams.

Flexible Business Financing

The Northland Foundation is not a bank or credit union, although we often partner with traditional commercial lenders to put loans together.

In many cases, we help fill the gap between how much the borrower needs and how much their bank is able to lend. We can also originate loans ourselves, including SBA loans.

We have many financing tools available to us, to work with borrowers and other lenders to find the best solution.

Access to Loans for More People

The Northland Foundation is open to serving businesses of all sizes in the Minnesota counties and Native nations that make up our service area.

We have a strong interest in helping those who might otherwise have a harder time getting the full amount of funding they need. These include small start-ups and entrepreneurs who are veterans; women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; LGBTQ+; low income; living with a disability; and/or located in economically depressed or very rural communities.

Small Business Development Center

In 2019, we became the host organization for the region’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The Northland SBDC program serves our same geographic region.

Professional consultants are available to help people in the region to start, manage, or grow a business. Consulting services are offered at no cost to clients! 

From traditional, ancestral & contemporary lands of Ojibwe, Dakota, Northern Cheyenne & other Native people. See a more detailed acknowledgement of this land and its history.

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