History
Southeast Community Capital, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as exempted by the Internal Revenue Service, was created in December 1999 to increase access to capital for Tennessee's disadvantaged small businesses that were unable to access traditional sources of financing. SCC initially began operations as Technology 2020 Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of its parent corporation, Technology 2020. With headquarters in Oak Ridge, SCC began providing capital to local businesses and those companies created around technologies licensed from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Additionally, SCC began to manage loan funds for the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth (CEG) and the Community Reuse Organization East Tennessee (CROET) in the Oak Ridge area. In late 1999, SCC became a SBA micro lender for the state of Tennessee. Following this, SCC became a USDA intermediary re-lender. In May 2001, the CDFI Fund, a division of the U. S. Treasury, certified SCC as a Community Development Financial Institution. The CDFI Fund awarded a Core Component Grant to SCC in 2002 and a Financial Assistance Award in 2003.
In October 2001, SCC opened its second office in Chattanooga, Tennessee to manage the Chattanooga Opportunity Fund, which Mayor Bob Corker created with an investment from the city. In 2003, the Chattanooga Opportunity Fund began receiving investments from financial institutions. In May 2002, SCC opened its third office in Nashville and created the Nashville Opportunity Fund in partnership with Nashville's Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. This fund began receiving financial institution investments in 2002. In January 2003, SCC opened its fourth office in Memphis to manage the Memphis Business Opportunity Fund. The Memphis Business Opportunity Fund was the creation of Mayor W. W. Herenton and three Memphis-based financial institutions, First Tennessee Bank, N.A., National Bank of Commerce, N.A., and Union Planters Bank, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati. In July 2004, SCC launched the Knox County Technology and Jobs Fund. This fund is the creation of Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, CROET, and SCC. The Fund targets Knox County and fourteen surrounding counties.
After almost six years as a start-up supporting organization to Technology 2020, SCC obtained organizational independence in October 2005, which allows it to pursue new opportunities and growth in rural communities and minor urban areas outside of its former parent's service area of East Tennessee. With this change, SCC moved its headquarters to Nashville to centralize its services within Tennessee. SCC's first expansion of service came in November when it was approved by USDA as a non-traditional lender for the Business and Industry loan guarantee program. SCC's pursuit of these new programs is driven by the board and management's desire to provide increasing levels of capital to small businesses in Tennessee. In October 2005, SCC returned its very successful lending program and associated capital to the City of Chattanooga following the election of a new mayor who desired to bring many previously outsourced programs back under government management.
In the nine years since its inception, by providing these products to its Target Market, SCC has grown to over $26 million in assets and as of May 31, 2008, made 370 loans to 293 companies totaling more than $23.8 million and more than 786 new jobs. With an average loan size of $72,225.98, SCC has been able to assist low-income businesses by retaining 2,593 jobs.
