e504 - Advancement in loan processing

Dakota CDC has been delivering SBA 504 loans for over 30 years with a great deal of experience and reliability. Since April of 2011, Dakota CDC has been working with the an electronic process called the e504.  This is an entirely electronic submission process that has reduced costs, time, and responsiveness by the SBA from what was originally days, to 24 to 48 hours. We have processed well over 40 e504’s to date with a response from SBA ranging from 24 to 68 hours. There has been a great deal of interest and enthusiasm in e504.  For our lending partners, and ultimately the small businesses we are here to serve, this is an exciting time at Dakota CDC and another example of our ability to deliver, "Capital for Growth."

Mission Statements

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, advices that purpose inspires people and that many companies have mission statements with lofty principles that are little more than wall hangings.

Dakota CDC's mission strives to provide exceptional financing solutions in a supportive and creative environment delivered by dedicated, experienced lending staff.  We do this by insuring that integrity, respect, collaboration, passion, and accountability guide and support how we achieve our mission and serve as a guide for all plans, decisions, and actions.  It is through these non-negotiable values that we strive for perfection.  This should not be confused with being perfect as we are not and we are continually challenging ourselves to be better and to improve upon what we have accomplished.  It is by striving for perfection, coupled with our values guiding our decisions along the way, that we live the advice of John Mackey on a daily basis.

While no set of values or mission statement can guarantee complete success, keeping these in the forefront of any discussion and all decisions, will move any organization from simply thinking about perfection to a direction that continually strives for and achieves the best possible direction at a given time.

Cultivate the success

Jeff Bezos, founder / CEO of Amazon and one of Fortune Magazine's 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time, quit his job in New York, drove across the country to Seattle, and launched Amazon in 1994.  His desire was to "build an important and lasting company."  The key to his success - he regularly takes mini-retreats to create new ideas and from where Amazon's fulfillment center for third-party sellers was borne.  It is this fulfillment center idea and concept that has opened up opportunities for hundreds of other smaller companies.  Smaller companies like Swen Products of Gardner, North Dakota who sell their products through Amazon and who create jobs and contribute to the tax base for North Dakota.  Swen Products (www.swenproducts.com) is using an SBA 504 loan, through Dakota CDC, to expand their business allowing them to purchase land and building in West Fargo, North Dakota.  Amazon, a large global company, Swen Products, a small local company, and Dakota CDC through a 504 loan - all do our part to "cultivate the success of small business.

Welcome!

Welcome to your small business blog where cultivating the succcess of small business and the latest news from Dakota Certified Development Corporation is our focus.  For those of you who may not be familiar with a blog, a blog is a journal published by an individual or a small group of individuals and often themed on a single subject.  Our blog, the DakotaBlog, will journal ideas, answers, issues, and challenges facing the continued success of small businesses.  Our vision for this blog is not only for us to journal about these topics and the important issues surrounding small business, but that you, the reader, will see this as an interactive blog, allowing you to leave comments and even messages for each other.  It is this interactivity that distinguishes us from the rest. In a sense, this blog will not only produce content, but seek to build upon the relationships with our readers and other bloggers who focus on similar topics and issues.  We look forward, not back, and are excited to enter this form of social networking with our small businesses, our lending partners, our economic devleopment professionals, and your the reader.  We hope that you visit often and find the content useful.