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Dana Gustafson
Dana Gustafson

she/her/hers
Class of 2022
Economics and Political Science
Neighborhood Development Center

Neighborhood Development Center is a community development financial institution which provides a range of services including business loans, training, technical assistance, and real estate incubators to business owners from eight target Twin Cities neighborhoods which have dealt with historical redlining and long term disinvestment. I partnered with the Lending Department at NDC this summer to help streamline their loan underwriting process and learn about financial metrics for small businesses. I am interested in working to shift capital resources into American neighborhoods and communities who deal with exclusion from the financial system, and by partnering with NDC I hoped to gain better knowledge about the specifics of this kind of work in the Twin Cities area. 

My central project during the summer was to create a universal cash flow projection template for contract financing in the construction industry. To complete this, I spoke with a local construction business owner, presented to the NDC lending team several times, and conducted research on industry-wide costs and forecasting practices. I also assisted the lending department with a number of other tasks, which included developing a tracking sheet and communications plan for PPP loan forgiveness applications, writing loan committee minutes, and working with loan officers to evaluate applications. 

My experience at NDC allowed me to build a valuable understanding of the way nonprofits work. NDC collaborates very effectively with other nonprofit and for-profit groups like the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) and Thrivent Financial to improve their lending capacity and their systems efficiency. Furthermore, the NDC team has a very strong culture of connection and support across the staff and it’s clear that each person at the organization is highly valued. After working for them, I’m excited to continue exploring avenues for social improvement through finance and business.