Kiva Columbus Momentum

In November of 2014, Louisville became the 9th Kiva City in the country. This recognition is significant because it cements a city’s position as a permanent home for sustainable micro-financing. Since this milestone has been achieved in Louisville, $380,000 in 0% loans have been poured into 69 small businesses.

In 2015, we saw the opportunity to help spread the love. Last July we partnered with Kiva again to help bring Reese Neader to Columbus, Ohio for a year-long Kiva fellowship. Over the past nine months, Reese has been meeting with small business owners, engaging the community and building the foundation for Columbus to become the next Kiva city. This week Columbus took its next major step towards this end.

On Tuesday night, Kiva Columbus hosted an event at Rambling House Soda, a local Kiva borrower, for over 50 community members, Kiva borrowers, and political leaders. The event begins the countdown to the launch of Kiva City Columbus as nearly all of the $225,000 needed for kickoff is raised.

Over the past few months, community support has grown exponentially as organizations such as The Columbus Foundation, The City of Columbus, The United Way of Central Ohio, Greater Columbus Arts Council and The Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing have jumped on board with financial support (with several more in the works).

The recently elected Mayor Andrew Ginther is a Kiva supporter in the city as well and talked at length about the opportunities created by the new platform, saying in his State of the City address last month,

Columbus is committed to becoming a Kiva City. This is an opportunity for new local businesses in our community to thrive.

As the Kiva City launch in Columbus draws nearer, it is exciting to see lives changed through the impact of local micro-financing. The underserved in the community now will have a resource for growing their businesses and in return the city of Columbus will grow too.