What you Need to Know: Loan Readiness for First Time Borrowers Webinar

June 4, 2025, 2:00 PM EST | 1:oo PM CST

Join the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center for a webinar on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 to help prepare food and farm businesses new to the lending process.

Applying for a loan is a big step for a small business, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Understanding the lending process is an essential step for growing your business and accessing federal funding.

Join the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center’s Michigan team for a virtual training to break down the steps of the lending process for farm and food business owners who are first time borrowers. It is common for farm and food businesses to seek financing to assist with reimbursement-based grants and funding programs.

In this session, attendees will learn about different types of business loans, basic lender requirements, and free resources to help prepare for financing. Jazmin Bolan-Williamson and Madelina DiLisi of Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems will walk attendees through a loan readiness checklist, as well as share answers to frequently asked questions to ensure first time borrowers are prepared and confident for their first meeting with a lender.

Our Featured Speakers

Jazmin Bolan-Williamson, Food and Farm Business Coordinator, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS). She has been with CRFS since 2022, preparing food and farm businesses for financing through the Michigan Good Food Fund and the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center. She resides in Washtenaw County and serves entrepreneurs in the Southeast Michigan local food system.
Madelina DiLisi, Michigan Food and Farm Network Specialist, (CRFS) and the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center. Madelina just celebrated her first year at CRFS and has been engaged in local food systems work for years in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Madelina’s experience and passion stem from her time managing the Calumet Farmers Market and working as a Farm to School Education Consultant for the Western UP Farm to School Project. Madelina is currently on the board of directors for From the Ground Farmers Market Collective.

Join us on June 4, 2025, 2:00 PM EST | 1:00 PM CST on Zoom, to learn more about Loan Readiness. This session will be recorded and shared at glm-rfbc.msu.edu and on Youtube.

Link to register: https://bit.ly/LoanReadiness

For more information, email glm-rfbc@msu.edu or visit glm-rfbc.msu.edu.

About the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center

The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center is dedicated to offering coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for farmers, producers, and other food business owners, in support of a more resilient and competitive food system. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MI) coordinates the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center that is comprised of network coordinators – Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the University of Wisconsin System (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems – who seek to take a transformational, rather than transactional, approach. Learn more at glm-rfbc.msu.edu

Support for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service Regional Food Business Centers Program. The 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers support all 50 U.S. States and Territories, and are inclusive of all types of agricultural products produced locally or regionally.