The Kohala Center and San Francisco based non-profit Kiva are joining forces to offer Hawaiʻi food producers and small businesses the opportunity to obtain zero interest micro loans.

Kivaʻs lending program provides interest free loan options to borrowers who may have trouble accessing capital by connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners with benefactors.

Hawaiʻi’s Kohala Center will serve as the program’s regional hub, with Eric Bowman, Kohala Center business development and services integration coordinator, serving as Hawai‘i’s Kiva capital access manager.

The Kohala Center will be able to identify and connect with prospective borrowers as soon as they begin the application process. This ensures applicants will receive the support they need to be successful in their loan campaigns.

In a statement Kohala Center president and CEO Cheryl Ka‘uhane Lupenui, said “Kiva’s community-based approach to micro-lending aligns with our own efforts to build respectful and healthy relationships between people, ‘āina, local food, and local economies.”

Eligible borrowers may have their loans further augmented through the Hawai‘i Food Producers Fund, a collaboration initiated by the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture, County of Hawai‘i, USDA, Ulupono Initiative, and Kiva and managed by The Kohala Center.

Applications are available at kiva.org.

For more information contact The Kohala Center at 808-887-6411 or email info@kohalacenter.org.

 

Photo courtesy of the Kohala Center