Five questions for Steve Hoffman, president and CEO,, Brightpoint | Editorials

1 How will the $500,000 from the Capital Improvement Board enhance Brightpoint’s ability to support local businesses?

A: The investment will be utilized to expand Brightpoint Development Fund’s existing small business loan programs. The funds will be deployed as loans to small business owners and entrepreneurs in Allen County who cannot access capital from traditional lenders. It will help us serve more businesses and as the funding revolves, the investment will support our community for decades to come.

2 How does Brightpoint support loan recipients with technical assistance and coaching?

A: A unique aspect of what we do is provide significant support to borrowers beyond just the loan.

We provide this support as a borrower prepares to apply for a loan as well as after. We have staff who provide technical assistance and utilize our great partners in the community when assistance is needed that we are not in the best position to provide.

This assistance takes many shapes and is customized to each borrower’s needs, but examples include help with developing business plans, marketing and accounting.

3 What kinds of businesses benefit most from the microloan program, and can you share a success story?

A: Many different types of businesses can benefit from the microloan program. Startups and small businesses seeking to grow are typical applicants, as there are limited options from most other lenders due to the higher risk.

We can help businesses in most industries. There are a few limitations. For example, the business must have evidence they cannot borrow from a traditional lender, and it must be a for-profit business unless it is a child care (business).

One example of success includes an IT support business that borrowed $30,000 to start. The business was performing well until one of their clients refused to pay for completed work totaling more than $10,000. The business contacted us to explain the situation and its impact. We were able to offer flexible payments and provide support, which allowed them to get new clients and turn the situation around. They now have monthly revenue greater than our loan, have added multiple staff and expanded their service area. If they had been with another lender, the business would most likely no longer exist.

4 How do you evaluate applicants beyond credit scores, especially startups or low-credit individuals?

A: We have less-stringent guidelines than traditional lenders, but this is still a loan program and we have a responsibility to preserve the fund for future borrowers.

Multiple factors go into the evaluation of applications. We review an applicant’s personal financial situation, collateral coverage, the number of years in the industry, number of years of management of a business, owners’ equity or investment into the business, business projections and their business plan.

These are all elements of our underwriting guidelines, but we evaluate the application more holistically than most lenders.

Even those we deny, we will help them build their situations to the point where they can have a successful application in the future.

5 How will you ensure 25% of loans reach business owners outside Fort Wayne?

A: Brightpoint’s service area covers 14 counties in northeast Indiana, and we have programs and relationships throughout that region. It is common for us to have funding sources that restrict programming to certain areas, and we are used to targeting our outreach and service delivery in response to this.

We will do the same with this program.

We already have many small business borrowers outside of Fort Wayne and we are looking forward to expanding this programming to the other communities of Allen County.