Strategic Plan & Analysis of New Commercial Endeavor Planning

Mission statement

Louisville Community Development Bank was set up in the year 1997 as a consequence of a scheme by Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson and a team of business, community and religious leaders to ensure betterment of the Louisville inner city. The Bank's mission is to inspire economic growth with the West End and the Smoke town, Shelby Park and Phoenix Hill localities of Louisville, Kentucky, by offering a range of financial and development resources. (Louisville Community Development Bank from a Home Business to a Million-Dollar Plaza)

Why you have selected the business or department

As the sphere of Banking comes aptly well within my domain knowledge, I would choose for a current venture as that of a local community development bank. Louisville Community Development Bank (LCDB) is a profit oriented, FDIC guaranteed, commercial bank that focuses its functions in the 12 distressed inner city localities in Louisville. The Bank has been concentrating on this confined region from its opening during January 1971. (Louisville Community Development Bank Focuses on Inner City Neighborhoods)

What makes your business unique and different from your competitors?

The Bank is the only one in U.S.A. that limits its operation to the distressed inner-city localities. It enjoys the distinction of being getting an award for five continuous years being the one of the leading Small Business Administration (SBA) loan givers in Kentucky. The Bank is the sole SBA Community Express Leader in the state. The Community Express loan program employs a restructured approval procedure to make SBA assured loans to business owners in locations where the areas have not been covered adequately. (Louisville Community Development Bank from a Home Business to a Million-Dollar Plaza)

SWOT analysis? Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Strengths:

Louisville's current allocation of $62.5 million in federal tax credits became a financial triumph for the city, as the investor and business community has displayed interest to take advantage of the opportunity. (Federal tax credit announcement spurs inquiries) The Bank has achieved the objective of economic development by more than $12.8 million of targeted loans. These loans have reinstated properties and opened up job opportunities with the community. (Community Development Banks) The bank possesses assets of $38 million till May 31, 2003. (Louisville Community Development Bank from a Home Business to a Million-Dollar Plaza) LCDB's funding within the community come in the shape of business, residential and commercial real estate loans. (Louisville Community Development Bank Focuses on Inner City)

The biggest project LCDB participated in was revitalizing the Parl DuValle locality. Park DuValle has been a small region of dismal poverty in Louisville, where roughly 3,500 people resided in a grotesque public housing project. By means of a pioneering $240 million proposal that includes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - HUD and the city of Louisville, spanning ten years divided into three phases restores a complete locality. After its commissioning, it was hoped that the 125-acre Park DuValle community will comprise of 450 self-owned and another additional 600 rental housing units. The locality was supposed to have schools, a community health centre, open spaces with greenery, several shopping outlets and a lot of churches. LCDB, HUD and five additional institutions were providing the construction loans meant for the rental units. At the minimum, 30 different banks and mortgage companies were extending permanent financing options when construction was finished. (Louisville Community Development Bank Focuses on Inner City)

Weakness:

A lot of people had mentioned that the Bank would be a failure due to its self-imposed confinement to operate in 12 distressed inner city localities in Louisville But these limitation of operations on the contrary have been helping them to succeed. This is because the Bank only advances loans and all the routine affairs of the Bank like checking accounts, car loans, tellers, ATMS are not present thereby eliminating clutter. With just 20 localities to manage, the Bank enjoys the advantages of a lean organization with a strong and helps to keep focus. (Louisville Community Development Bank Focuses on Inner City) There are more advantages to the bank than its limitations.

Opportunities:

The New Markets Tax Credit allocation has been present since long. Louisville Community Development Bank and Frost Brown Todd each appealed for tax credits the previous year, but both groups were not successful in their endeavors. Subsequently, the establishment understood that they could leverage their strengths and weaknesses by collaborating together on the latest application. Besides, Frost Brown Todd possesses an in-depth experience in structuring complex funding as stated by Greenberg....

Apart from that, the legal firm has set-up a New Markets Tax Credit subsidiary as one of the subsidiary business ventures. According to Byrant, the collaboration was a main cause in getting the current year's allocation, and will be advantageous not only to every organization, but the total community as a whole. (Federal tax credit announcement spurs inquiries)
Threats:

The Bank faces threat from loans defaults that might cause some problems in the overall functioning of the Bank as it operates in the economically backward community where around 42% of the population lives below the poverty line. However, since the Bank's first and foremost objective is welfare of the community that takes precedence over profitability there is no formidable threat as such for the organization in the immediate future. Besides, the Bank is not in direct competition with the other local Bank. The fact of the matter is that every other important bank in the town either owns stock in the Bankcorp, or is a major depositor with the Bank. (Louisville: Annual Report 1998)

Strategic Plan: First year goals and objectives

To improve extension of small business: Gauged by the number of commercial loans made, creation of jobs, and technical assistance customers catered to.

To expand home ownership: To increase the number of families possessing homes as a consequence of the activities of the Bank.

To improve the quality and importance of real estate: Estimated by the amount of acquisitions/rehabilitations loans, housing units developed and housing or commercial site improvement loans. Increasing the quantity of the present goods and services was estimated by the number of loans to firms giving necessary goods and services in the Investment area. To connect resident to career path employees: Accessed by the number of jobs created. (Louisville: Annual Report 1998)

Three year goals and objectives

The goals and objectives for the three years 1998, 1999 and 2000 are as follows:

During the year 1998, Small Business Loans has been advanced to 58 individuals amounting to $4,419,687. The corresponding figures for the year 1999 is 49 individuals amounting to $5,037,462 and for the year 2000 is 29 individuals amounting to $3,987,881. Under Single Family/Homeownership the figures for 1998, 199 and 2000 is 4 individuals amounting to $215,700, 10 individuals amounting to $318,065 and 16 individuals amounting to $571,998 respectively. Similarly, under Housing scheme the figures for the above three years are 8 individuals for $278,590, 8 individuals for $255,495 and 16 individuals for $997,214. (Part VI Worksheets Worksheet 4: CDFI Distressed Community Activities) In 2001, the Bank made $8,045,670 in loans, an enhancement of 37% compared to the year 2000. The bank has made $31,117,877 in loans during the five years to 236 businesses. These loans have either created or saved 989 jobs.

Social and ethical responsibilities

The Bank an FDIC insured one is in the business for the only objective of developing the economy in the extremely poverty stricken localities of Louisville, Kentucky. (Louisville Community Development Bank- www.valuecom.com) LCDB takes part in the "1% in Community" movement. This nationwide movement is devised to produce $10 billion in new investment that will be used for constructing homes, creating new jobs and recovering properties that have been discarded throughout the United States. (Louisville Community Development Bank- www.morethanabank.com) Being positive instead of being glum, confidence as against despair, happiness dispelling gloominess and this state of mind is imbibed by the children in Louisville by the Bank. According to Downward of Louisville, the growing influence of the Bank's initiative remains how they are molding their children into adults that will have the biggest influence on everyone.

II. Market

Intended market? Retail or wholesale

The idea behind setting up LCDB was to perk-up the economic development within the Louisville's internal city localities. The twelve localities catered to by this Bank are referred to as the Investment Area. (Part VI Worksheets Worksheet 4: CDFI Distressed Community Activities) The Bank-LCDB primarily extends loans that assists in setting up of new businesses and grow the ones which have already been formed. LCDB even extends home expansion, new purchase and also renovation loans at the retail level. The money for these loans is funded out of Catholic Health Initiatives. It is the only Bank that is understood to be functioning within the inner city neighborhoods. (Catholic Health Initiatives Commits $1 Million to Louisville Community Development Bank)

Demographics of potential customers

African-American community comprises 77% of the population of the West End. 7 of the localities of the West End contains first of the Distressed Communities catered to by the Bank. The total population of this first Distressed Community is in excess of 56,000 with 42.45%…