You will need to meet with representatives of CAA on several occasions before obtaining a Microenterprise Loan. During these meetings, you will be provided with sample business plans, your blank personal financial statement, guidance on business plan organization, credit analysis, budgeting tips, and additional program information. Funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis and it is important that you stay in constant contact with us to complete the required steps and present your application/business plan packet to the Microenterprise Loan Review Committee.

At right is a list of the steps in order - click on a link or scroll down the page to read a brief description of the particular areas of the process in order.

Good Luck to all of you and please feel free to call us at (330)424-4013 or e-mail Martina anytime.

Attend your initial meeting with CAA. You will be given more information on the training process and program information and eligibilty criteria. We will also discuss budgeting and obtain a copy of your credit report at this time.

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Determination of Eligibility. This may be done during your initial appointment, but if you are required to supply additional income or credit information, you will need to set up another appointment with CAA.

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Entrepreneurship training. You must purchase the text book under the My Own Business.Org program. If you do not have a credit card to purchase the text, see Marti at CAA and we will look into other avenues.

You may either take the training course by viewing it online or you may complete the training by studying the text material. In both of these instances, you will be required to complete specific activities as outlined by CAA. These activities will assist you with your business plan preparation.

We will also be offering different seminars for you to attend. These may include speakers from other local small businesses, tax preparers, accountants, and attorneys. We will notify you of these seminars in advance.

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You will need to complete a business plan for review by the loan board. Since you will be saving all of the activities on a computer disk, you can either use the sample business plan that has been provided to you, or you may want to contact us to set up an appointment to help with the organization of the items.

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After you have completed all items with the exception of your projections, call CAA. We will then get in contact with the appropriate individual that will assist you with the preparation of the three year projections.

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You will be required to contact CAA to obtain a copy of the Microenterprise Loan Application. You will need to complete all items of this application. Call us if you have questions on any area of the application.

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You will schedule an appointment to turn in your completed business plan with three years projections, your completed application and the $50.00 application fee.

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We will provide copies of all of the above information to the board members about a week before the scheduled meeting. This gives them time to review your proposal. We will set an appointment date and time and inform you what time you will need to be at the location to meet with the board. You will answer any questions that the board have and then be free to leave. We will contact you later that date to let you know the outcome.

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