Ascendus, Inc.

Ascendus's long range goals over the next 5 years are to (1) grow our ability to meet demand for our small business loan products and financial education services for business owners in need across all of our markets; (2) increase our clients’ economic mobility and resiliency to survive and prevail in the near-term and future and (3) increase our organizational self-sufficiency to ensure we continue to grow our mission sustainably.

Ascendus' new strategic plan, approved by our board in Dec 2017, will advance our strategic goals through the following activities: 1) increase lending through a direct outreach strategy designed to complement our partnership outreach strategies; 2) introduce new financial products that meet the changing needs of our clients; and 3) expand our services into new geographic regions. Our Childcare Provider Support Initiative is a major element of the 1st prong of our strategic plan. All of our plans for growth are rooted in the needs of our clients. Their barriers to success and our desire to help them succeed determine our growth strategies, and the solutions we intend to offer.

We have a nearly three-decade track record of excellence and growth with a dedicated staff specialized in the provision of specialized, tailored financial education and loan capital. We have developed several special loan products designed to provide safe and appropriate alternatives to clients who need access to the capital that is required to start, stabilize, or expand their businesses.

Since inception, we have lent over $200 million to more than 22,000 businesses and provided more than 520,000 entrepreneurs with financial education services. Each year we serve small business owners nationwide, with a focus on serving small business owners in New England, New York, and Florida. We have offices in Boston, New York, Miami, and Orlando, and we reach 47 states through the internet.

In 2019, Ascendus provided 1,005 small business with $15 million in capital – $1.2 million more than we provided in 2018. This deployment represents over a decade high for the organization and the tenth consecutive year of increasing our reach. On average, we provided over $1 million per month in capital to small business owners.
Now in our 29th year, we’ve been recognized in numerous ways for our outstanding service to underserved business owners. We’ve received 5 consecutive Financial Assistance awards from the U.S. Department of Treasury totaling $7.3 million in the last five years to scale our mission. We were also the first CDFI to be sanctioned as a Microloan Program Lender across the entire Atlantic Coast by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In 2016, we launched our new SBA Community Advantage Loan, and have since risen in the rankings to be the 11th most productive Community Advantage lender in the country. We’ve now been approved to provide Community Advantage loans across the entire east coast.

We will continue to execute on our 5-year strategic plan, both by deepening our impact in our core markets and expanding our programming among our broader geography. We will continue to prioritize meeting the needs of the hardest to reach by focusing on serving low-income, women, and minority small business owners.