Many small businesses and young development firms across Atlanta have plenty of passion and grit to spare, but nothing can replace capital and financial know-how.
Assistance on those fronts is about to become more available as a national nonprofit expands its loan, financing and training services to the capital of the South.
Momentus Capital recently announced it will invest $50 million in the Atlanta area to help small businesses and novice developers grow their operations. The initiative revolves around a pillar of entrepreneurship: Capital is king.
“Access to capital is really about two things,” said Tommy Lester, who is leading the nonprofit’s Atlanta campaign. “It’s about knowing who has the money and where to get it.”
Momentus Capital formed in 2021 through the merging of two community development financial institutions whose roots date back to the 1980s. The organizations are Virginia-based Capital Impact Partners — which focuses on strengthening communities through economic development — and San Diego-based CDC Small Business Finance, the country’s top Small Business Administration lender.
By combining their services under the Momentus Capital brand, Capital Impact Partners CEO and President Ellis Carr said the organizations could have an outsize impact across the country. They have invested more than $11 billion, and Atlanta will be Momentus Capital’s sixth targeted market.
“We realized that Atlanta was a prime market because it’s growing,” Carr said. “And there will continue to be an increasing need for affordable housing, healthcare and education to serve that growing population.”
Credit: Courtesy of Momentus Capital
Credit: Courtesy of Momentus Capital
About half the funds earmarked for Atlanta will focus on small business borrowers through various loans, typically through the SBA’s 7(a) Community Advantage program. The effort will center on the city and surrounding five core metro counties.
The initiative also allocates $15 million to affordable housing projects and aims to train more than 20 affordable housing developers.
Lester, a southwest Atlanta native, said his hometown city is in a better position than most of its peers, since it has a thriving business community and a growing population. But he said those can create challenges for legacy residents and scrappy entrepreneurs who might not have the same access to traditional financial tools.
“We’re looking for people who are contributing to communities that need it or business owners who haven’t necessarily had the assistance, the background or the mentorship that they need,” he said.
Momentus Capital has spent the past two years investing about $12 million into the Atlanta area through development loans and property refinancing assistance. The group also offers training courses to developers, with the first Atlanta cohort finished in May. A second cohort will begin next year and already has a waitlist.
Credit: Courtesy of Momentus Capital
Credit: Courtesy of Momentus Capital
“Our goal and expectation is that the $50 million is the start of a series of investments that we’ll make over time,” Carr said. “My hope is that will grow over time.”
More information on the organization’s educational programs and financial assistance options is available at momentuscap.org.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to name the correct SBA loan program that certain funds will be earmarked for and correct a photo caption.
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