Standing up for small business
Kim Jacobs grew up in Yankton, a small city on the Missouri River in South Dakota where her parents owned a hardware store. Jacobs knew all the merchants on Main Street she would pass every day after school on her way to the family store. Working there every summer, one of her chores was to take toy inventory so her parents would know what had to be ordered for Christmas.
“Small business is dear to my heart. ”¦I know how hard an entrepreneur works and the risks they take,” said the 58-year-old Jacobs, the executive director of Community Capital Resources in Hawthorne. It is the largest not-for-profit lender to community businesses in the Hudson Valley.
“They”™re stakeholders in the community. They sponsor the Little League, the PTA carnival, they run for local office. They”™re the lifeblood of communities.”
Created in 1989 as the Westchester Housing Fund, Jacobs has been with the financial institution 22 years. Community Capital, which serves Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties, started lending to small business 10 years ago. Before that, the money went to build housing.
Jacobs has a master”™s degree in urban planning and an MBA in finance. She got her start in not-for-profit work in 1983 at the Rochester Downtown Development Corp.
“I started as an urban planner, doing land-use planning. But that was not applicable to an urban environment. I saw an ad for a job at the Westchester Housing Fund in 1989.”
Jacobs”™ days are filled with time spent on the phone. “The part I really enjoy is connecting people who ought to know each other. When someone calls facing a problem, and I can say ”˜Do you know so-and-so?”™ that”™s a good day. We have a lot of resources here. We just need to find each other.”
But that doesn”™t mean she is confined to her office. Perhaps because of her small town background, Jacobs recognizes the importance of meeting someone ”“ a developer needing money for a project, a businessman or woman who needs a loan or an individual facing bankruptcy ”“ face to face, especially the first time. “It”™s important to say ”˜This is who I am.”™ Small business thrives on relationships. I bring that to my job, it”™s respectful.”
While small business has a special place in her life, Jacobs also emphasizes the need for affordable housing in Westchester.
“Forty-four percent of Westchester workers commute from outside the county. Housing is just too expensive. High-wealth people can compete in the housing market. Others have a hard time. So we make the loans that banks don”™t want to make.”
Her office walls are lined with loose-leaf binders for housing and business projects, so she can follow their progress. And it”™s just as important to her to stay in close touch with individuals. “I was at the Westchester County Center for the affordable housing expo on March 10. It”™s a showcase for homebuyers and we work with first-time homebuyers.”
It”™s not only important for her to hear the challenges people and communities face, but to publicize and celebrate Community Capital”™s successes. “We don”™t do enough about what our work is accomplishing, promotional efforts,” she said. “Last year, four of our businesses were voted best in Westchester, among them an Ethiopian restaurant in Mount Kisco and a Latino restaurant in New Rochelle. You see people get launched on a dream.”
Her bookshelves also hold what she calls the “staff stress reliever” ”“ a little purple-haired witch in a black robe that gets squeezed when needed.
Also in view is Nancy Drew”™s “Guide to Life,” with such offerings as “Don”™t let your troubles get in the way of a good lunch” and “Even with an active lifestyle promptness is important.”
What are not in view are the awards hanging behind the door, given to Jacobs by various housing organizations for her work. What is in plain view is a poster-size check from Wells Fargo for $350,000, evidence of success in Community Capital”™s never-ending hunt for funds. “That”™s prominently displayed,” said Jacobs. “That”™s what”™s important.”