Who We Are

The Village Capital Corporation Story

In 1988, Cleveland Tomorrow, The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, and Standard Oil of Ohio pooled corporate and foundation resources to create Neighborhood Progress Inc. (known as Cleveland Neighborhood Progress/CNP) as a vehicle to coordinate a strategic and scaled approach to rebuilding Cleveland neighborhoods. Shortly after its founding, CNP launched a revolving loan fund to finance organizations serving low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods that had limited access to capital. The CNP revolving loan fund was spun off into a wholly owned subsidiary, Village Capital Corporation (VCC), and received designation as a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization in 1992. VCC’s founding and sustaining funders were The Cleveland Foundation and The George Gund Foundation. VCC has an independent Board of Directors comprised of civic leaders, community and economic development professionals, real estate developers, and lenders and investors.

Forging the Path Forward into Opportunities for Impact

After meeting rigorous vetting standards and proving social impact and sound financial performance, in 2002, VCC was given status as a certified Community Development Financial Institution by the U.S. Department of Treasury (CDFI Fund). Our CDFI primarily serves businesses based in the greater Cleveland, OH area. Since its inception, VCC has been awarded several million dollars of CDFI Fund grant capital for investment in eligible local projects. Over our history, VCC has originated over $140 million is loans, leveraged over one billion dollars of private project investments, created or preserved over 6,200 units of housing, created or preserved over 2,400,000 square feet of commercial space, financed projects in every ward in Cleveland, and help maintain or create hundreds of jobs in the community. Our clients include community development corporations, nonprofit organizations to include schools and cultural institutions, and for-profit corporations.

Our Staff

Dione Alexander

President

Adam Trumbo

Vice President of Lending

Jeremiah Triplett Sr.

Manager of Small Business

Doniella Ligon

Loan Portfolio Manager

Tory Coats

Small Business Loan Officer

In Memoriam: Kwame Botchway

We honor the life and legacy of Edmund Kwame Botchway who served as Director of Community Impact and Innovation of Village Capital Corporation (VCC) was a valued member of VCC leadership team and the community and economic development ecosystem. Kwame, who migrated to the United States from Ghana in 2017 to complete his graduate studies, focused on increasing economic opportunity, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship in the region.

Kwame will be most remembered for his commitments to economic justice and was the co-creator of three VCC programs: Contractors on the Rise (“COR), and the Equitable Development Initiative, and GrowU, all aimed at increasing the proficiency, profitability, impact, and agency of under-presented and under-resourced businesses. Kwame’s guiding principle for life was “Wherever you go, go with all of your heart.”