Moorhead entrepreneur Jaci McCaskell Kulish worked with Dakota Business Lending to obtain a loan to set up the office of Northern Plains Lactation Services.

Michaela Schell
Dakota Business
Lending

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Sometimes traditional business lending doesn’t fill the gap. That’s where Dakota Business Lending may come in to rescue small business owners’ plans.
For Jaci McCaskill Kulish, the problem was unexpected: Needing too little funding. The Moorhead woman, who operates Northern Plains Lactation Services, wasn’t looking for many thousand dollars to fit up her small office at Eighth Street and I-94. “I was looking for a small loan – just $1,000,” the board-certified lactation consultant reports. “I needed it to furnish my new office and get involved with more insurance companies so I could serve more families.
“I talked to several bankers, but they always wanted to lend $50,000,” she remembers, smiling. “Then I met Michaela Schell. Dakota Business Lending sounded perfect, and it was. I applied online that same week, and got my answer in 48 hours without a single glitch.”
Kulish’s one-person business is typical – but not typical at all – of the clients with whom Michaela works at Dakota Business Lending. Among the several programs offered by the nonprofit lender is the Community Impact Loan Program. It’s designed to help small businesses, including start-ups, attain financing through gap financing – assisting them, for example, in connecting with commercial lenders by offering lower interest, fixed-rate financing to meet banks’ parameters for lending.
Often, clients may fall short in coming up with the typical 20% down payment needed for commercial loans. “That’s where we can step in,” she says, “with a fixed-rate loan to cover the gap.” With coverage by DBL’s community impact loan, business owners can borrow the rest of the capital they need from the traditional lender.
“We often partner with their local bank. They do one piece of the package, and we do another,” she says. “Our goal is to get their financials and their business in better shape so they’ll have better access the next time. As they grow and expand, they’ll be able to go to the bank and say, ‘Hey, look, my business is on its feet, with a solid record of paying off our first loan.’ We want to make them bankable in the future.”
Laura Ascheman, a commercial banker with First International Bank in Moorhead, applauds DBL’s services to their customers. “Purchasing a business location is typically one of the largest decisions our clients make. From finding the perfect building to navigating a budget, the process can seem daunting at times. First International Bank & Trust partners with Dakota Business Lending to bridge this gap through the SBA 504 loan program, where a client may only need to provide a 15% down payment. The team they have in place makes this a smooth process with great communications to set expectations up front for a successful building purchase.”
Dakota Business Lending is a certified development company, a non-profit organization certified and regulated by the Small Business Administration that packages, processes, closes, and services SBA 504 loans, working with the SBA and participating lenders to provide financing for small businesses. The 36-year-old corporation is best known for processing SBA 504 loans in the larger amounts required for buying real estate or large pieces of equipment. The SBA has passed through 88% of its North Dakota loans through the company, which is located south of Costco in West Fargo. Despite its location across the river, Michaela says, DBL also covers small business applications in Minnesota and Montana.
“We don’t compete with banks. They are our partners,” Michaela emphasizes. “We’re mission-driven. We can meet small business owners where they’re at.”
She identifies strongly with solopreneurs (one-person businesses) and smaller enterprises based on her own career. Before joining DBL in 2022 as its entrepreneurial development director, she was involved in a series of start-ups. She has worked in marketing and communications for a radio station and FargoMoms.com. She also developed a network marketing business selling skincare products, doing training and events for the 400 accounts in her circle. That grew into Live Unlimited Training and Events, planning and managing strategic conferences, training and event development for a broad range of clients. She and her family moved here from Grand Forks eight years ago.
“Our goal in community impact lending is to help businesses in underserved areas,” Michaela reports. “Underserved” can mean different things in different areas. “It’s often in rural areas, and most of Minnesota and North Dakota falls into that category,” she explains. “Maybe their community doesn’t have a local bank. Often incomes are lower.” Their target market also includes women- and Native-owned borrowers.
“But you don’t have to fall into those specific areas to qualify for our help,” she continues. “If a business’s needs fall into that gap and they can’t get a loan for the amount they need, we may be able to help. We’re a lender to all small business owners who may need help.
“Part of our goal is to respect the value of small communities and see their potential. How can we support small towns and help small business owners thrive where they are?”
To find out more about how Dakota Business Lending’s programs work with small business borrowers, go to https://dakotabusinesslending.com/