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W@W: What training do you provide?
W@W: How many loans have you granted?
MacFarlane: We offer free one-onone training. We also partner with the College of Saint Rose to run an eight-week business training course three to four times a year. We bring in experts from the community to teach different sections. The fee depends on the financial situation of the individual.
MacFarlane: Throughout the course of the organization, we have made probably close to 700 loans to businesses and not-for-profit organizations, such as the New York State Library Association and the Community Land Trust.
W@W: Where are you based?
MacFarlane: Our loan portfolio right now is between $9.5 and $10 million.
MacFarlane: In the Sheridan Hollow neighborhood [of Albany]. Walk around this area and there are a large number of vacant buildings with absentee landlords who allow the properties to run down. Housing is in demand. We partner with the Affordable Housing Project and other organizations to help provide housing and improve properties for landlords that are wanting to improve communities.
W@W: How much money is involved?
W@W: Do investors turn a profit? MacFarlane: The interest rate is low. A lot of our investors choose 0 percent. They could probably make more of a return, but they’re more concerned with what’s going on in the local economy. They are really socially concerned investors. W
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