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Julie Candelaria, Doris Rhodes Join Staff, Lead Take ACCION Task Force

Bank leaders have joined an exciting market-driven pilot project at ACCION New Mexico to enhance services for small business owners whose small capital needs grow as their businesses expand.

The Take ACCION Task Force is an innovative volunteer group of bankers and business development specialists working through ACCION’s impressive bank partner network to help ACCION expand its lending reach among emerging entrepreneurs who do not yet qualify for traditional business credit. Named the top-rated community development nonprofit in the country by Charity Navigator, ACCION is a small business lender that historically has offered loans between $200 and $50,000 to emerging entrepreneurs who may have faced barriers to credit.

The task force is helping ACCION offer more immediate access to capital for underserved entrepreneurs who are not yet eligible for bank credit and provide an opportunity for banks to serve those potential customers in the future. Task force members refer to ACCION promising loan requests of up to $150,000 that do not currently meet bank requirements. The task force then works with ACCION staff on analysis and review of these referrals. ACCION works to reconnect these clients to the referring banks once the entrepreneur has established stronger credit and business history with the ACCION loan.

ACCION Board Member Steven Chavez said the pilot project bolsters ACCION’s grass-roots mission of positive social change and economic development by offering emerging entrepreneurs greater access to needed capital.

“As an entrepreneur myself, I remember how challenging it was at times to get the capital I needed to get my business off the ground,” said Chavez, president of Integrated Control Systems, Inc. “The Take ACCION Task Force creates an opportunity for ACCION to provide a more robust service to those entrepreneurs who need it most.”

ACCION has welcomed Julie Candelaria as director of special projects to oversee the Take ACCION initiative. Candelaria brings extensive experience in marketing, product management, contract negotiations and process development to ACCION. Her work as a consultant has taken her across the United States and overseas for assignments at start-ups and telecommunications firms. Those assignments have included work for Qwest, Pacific Bell and Amoco. She holds a master's degree in business administration from Loyola University.

ACCION is also pleased to announce the addition of former ACCION Board of Directors member Doris Rhodes to the staff team. As a loan officer, Doris will focus on larger capital requests and work side-by-side with task force members on the pilot project. Doris has been the president of Doris Rhodes Public Relations and brings more than 15 years of experience in fundraising, community development, and public relations work with nonprofits and banks to ACCION. Among her career highlights, Doris has served as the vice president of corporate and public relations for Norwest Bank and director of development for the Anderson Schools of Management at the University of New Mexico.

The inaugural Take ACCION Task Force has been working since September. The first $1 million the task force disburses will be reviewed by the ACCION Board of Directors. Future expansion of the task force will target development in Santa Fe, Clovis and Las Cruces.

The current Take ACCION Task Force membership includes:
Carlos Baca, Wells Fargo Bank, Credit Analyst
Linda Carrejo, First Community Bank, Vice President, Business Banking
Michelle Coons, Bank of the West, Senior Vice President – Commercial Banking Manager
Angela Cranfill, Bank of America (Hobbs), Banking Center Manager
Bob Flowers, Bank of America, Vice President Consumer Markets Manager
Marcia Hembree, Bank of Albuquerque, Senior Vice President
Dodie Knight, Western Commerce Bank of Albuquerque, Division President
Kyle Nye, Bank of America, Credit Products Senior Underwriter
Ab Potter, SCORE
Metta Ritz, Bank of Albuquerque, Business Banking Credit Specialist
Mark Rudolph, New Mexico Bank and Trust, Vice President – Commercial Lending
Joe Sanchez, Compass Bank, Relationship Manager – Corporate Banking Group
Betty Vega, First National Bank of Santa Fe, Vice President – Community Development Banker
Megan Woodfin, First National Bank of Hobbs, Credit Analyst

Contact:
Leslie Hoffman, ACCION communications director
(505) 243-8844 ext. 238
(505) 270-0285 cell