In 2014, my family and I relocated to Northwest Arkansas, and I quickly realized that there was no podcast that really captured the essence of this wonderful area. That's why I decided to create the I Am Northwest Arkansas Podcast, the podcast I wish had existed before moving here. I grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, and I attended Howard University in Washington, DC, where I studied history and communication. I've lived in several locations in the US and Europe, and I spent 17 years in New England, where I met my wife and started a family. During that time, I started several successful businesses and worked for a consulting firm that was featured on the Inc. 500/5000 list three times, which allowed me to hone my entrepreneurial and leadership skills.
After moving to NWA, I was struck by the area's natural beauty, vibrant culture, and friendly people. As the host of my podcast, I have had the privilege of connecting with many remarkable individuals who are making a positive impact in the community. I'm also involved in various community organizations and initiatives that aim to improve the region's economic development and overall quality of life. Throughout my life, I've learned the importance of hard work, determination, and perseverance, and I always strive to embody these values in everything I do.
One of the biggest challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses in Northwest Arkansas is finding and attracting great talent. To address this issue, I'm launching an online job board that focuses on providing recruitment and talent management solutions to help companies attract andretain the best talent available. I believe that this initiative will not
only benefit local businesses, but also contribute to the continued growth and prosperity of Northwest Arkansas as a whole.
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Funded
A loan helped an African American entrepreneur build a Job board for small & mid sized businesses in NW Arkansas.
Randy's story
This loan is special because:
More about this loan
Business Description
Having recorded over 200 podcast episodes in the past four years, it's become evident to me that Northwest Arkansas is a fantastic place to live. Whether you're a student at the University of Arkansas, relocating to the area for work, or starting your own business, you'll eventually need help finding a job or the right employees. That's where ONBoardNWA.com comes in. Our hyper-local online job board connects job seekers and employers in the Northwest Arkansas region. Our mission is to support small and medium-sized businesses that struggle to compete with larger companies in the area due to their limited resources and staffing.
ONBoardNWA.com is specifically designed to meet the unique needs and opportunities of the Northwest Arkansas job market, ensuring that job seekers and employers can find the perfect fit for their needs. Our user-friendly interface makes it easy for job seekers to search and apply for jobs, and for employers to post and manage job listings, both through traditional and sonic job postings. Our innovative sonic job postings add an audio component to the job listing, featuring a brief description of the job spoken by the hiring manager themselves, in addition to information about the company and its culture.
Now you can finally tell the story of your firm through a Sonic job posting. At ONBoardNWA.com, we understand that small and medium-sized businesses have limited budgets, so we offer competitive pricing options to make it easier for them to compete with larger companies in the area. With our enhanced approach to talent acquisition, we're confident that we can help employers find the perfect candidate for their job opening and job seekers find their dream job in Northwest Arkansas.
What is the purpose of this loan?
The purpose of this loan is to support the launch and early growth of ONBoardNWA.com. The funds will be used for a range of critical aspects, including deploying and maintaining a user-friendly job board website with advanced search and filtering features, as well as refining the sonic job posting architecture we've created. We will also develop and implement effective marketing and advertising strategies to attract both job seekers and employers to the platform. Additionally, the loan will cover our initial operational and administrative costs, such as software subscriptions, server hosting, and other necessary tools. We plan to hire a copywriting professional to assist with the initial marketing of the job board, leveraging the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast community, especially the hundreds of businesses we've worked with over the past four-plus years.
Our goal is to make ONBoardNWA.com the go-to destination for job seekers and employers in the Northwest Arkansas region. With this loan, we can establish the necessary infrastructure and processes to ensure that our platform is effective, user-friendly, and impactful. We're confident that with the right resources and strategies in place, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of job seekers and the success of businesses in our Northwest Arkansas community.
Loan details
Loan length:
Repayment schedule
Monthly: One repayment made per month
End of term: One repayment made at the end of the loan term
Irregular: Any other repayment schedule
To see a detailed repayment schedule for a specific loan, click the "Repayment schedule" link on the loan profile under "Loan details."
What is the disbursed date?
In the case of partner loans, many of our Lending Partners choose to disburse loan funds before the loan request is posted on Kiva. We allow pre-disbursal because it ensures that the funds reach the borrower as soon as they are needed. Loan funds from Kiva lenders then go to backfill that amount and as a lender you assume the risk of the loan. By doing this, our Lending Partners assume the risk that, if the loan isn't funded by lenders, they will have to fund the loan without any funds from Kiva.
If a partner loan is not pre-disbursed, it will be listed on Kiva with an expected "post-disbursed" date. If a post-disbursed loan is not funded on Kiva, there is a chance that the borrower may not receive their loan. Some Lending Partners choose to disburse loans with other sources of funding, while other partners don't have the resources available to fund loans without Kiva lenders' support. No direct loans will be disbursed unless they fully fundraise on Kiva.
Funding model
What does "Partner covers currency loss" mean & how could it affect my Kiva loans?
Potential for currency exchange loss is noted on every loan profile under the loan details:
"Yes" means the Lending Partner will cover any currency loss. Lenders will not bear losses due to currency fluctuation
"Partial" means that the Lending Partner has opted to cover losses only up to 10%. If the U.S. dollar appreciates more than 10% against the local currency, those losses will be passed onto lenders.
"No" means that the Lending Partner is not covering any currency losses and all losses will be passed onto lenders.
"N/A" means the Lending Partner disburses loans to borrowers in USD so their loans are not subject to any currency fluctuation.
Do Kiva borrowers pay any interest on their loans?
Our partners collect interest from borrowers because there are many operational expenses associated with microfinance in developing markets, especially in rural areas. Many of Kiva's Lending Partners also provide additional services alongside their loan products such as business training, financial literacy lessons, or health services.
Kiva will not partner with an organization that charges unreasonable interest rates, and we require Lending Partners to fully disclose their rates. In addition, we only partner with microfinance institutions and organizations that have a social mission to serve the poor, unbanked, and underserved.
There are some 0% interest loans on Kiva, including all direct loans in the United States. To learn more about the interest rates Kiva borrowers pay, you can review the "Average cost to borrower" field on a loan profile.
We also encourage you to read the following articles if you are interested in further educating yourself on the topic: Microfinance 101 (https://www.kiva.org/microfinance), Top 10 things to know about microfinance (https://www.kiva.org/blog/top-10-things-to-know-about-microfinance), Microfinance interest rates explained (https://www.kiva.org/blog/whats-up-with-microfinance-interest-rates)
What is a risk rating?
The Lending Partner risk rating reflects the risk of institutional default associated with each of Kiva’s Lending Partners. A 0.5-star rating means the organization has a relatively higher risk of institutional default, while a 5-star rating indicates the organization is at a relatively lower risk of default, based on Kiva's analysis and the available information displayed in the Lending Partner section of every loan. Lending Partners with the lowest credit tier undergo a lighter level of due diligence and do not receive a risk rating; instead, in places where a risk rating would normally appear, these partners are labeled as “Experimental.” For more information, see "What is an Experimental Lending Partner?"
Direct loans also do not receive a formal risk rating. Instead, these loans are approved through “social underwriting”, where trustworthiness is determined by friends & family lending a portion of the loan request, or by a Kiva approved Trustee vouching for the borrower. Direct loans will appear as "Unrated" and lenders should always assume these loans represent the highest level of repayment risk on Kiva.
How are loans facilitated?
Kiva loans are facilitated through 2 models, partner and direct, that enable us to reach the greatest number of people around the world.
For partner loans, borrowers apply to a local Lending Partner, which manages the loan on the ground. Lending Partners are responsible for screening borrowers, disbursing loans, posting borrowers to the Kiva website for funding, collecting repayments and otherwise administering Kiva loans on the ground to borrowers.
For direct loans, borrowers apply through the Kiva website and may or may not be endorsed by a Trustee. Unlike Lending Partners, Trustees don't handle any financial transactions or have any duty to repay loans on behalf of their borrowers. Instead, Trustees take the role of providing support and business advice to their borrowers throughout the term of the loan.
More information about successive and concurrent loans
Most borrowers take out loans consecutively, meaning that they receive a second loan after having repaid the first. However, sometimes our Lending Partners give out concurrent loans, allowing borrowers to take out one primary loan and a secondary "add-on" loan along with it. These additional loans are typically smaller than the borrower's primary loan and serve a different purpose. We trust our partners to determine whether a borrower has the means to be able to repay a successive or concurrent loan.
About Encourage Build Grow
Lenders and lending teams
Country: United States
Trustee: StartupJunkie.org
What are Trustee tiers?
For for more information about Trustee tiers, visit: kivaushub.org/trustee-tiers
Why are you endorsing Randy?
I have worked with Randy during his application. He is very well respected in the NWA community, and he contributes to our community development in several different ways.
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Loan tags help lenders find loans that match certain areas of interest.
Loan details
Loan length:
Repayment schedule
Monthly: One repayment made per month
End of term: One repayment made at the end of the loan term
Irregular: Any other repayment schedule
To see a detailed repayment schedule for a specific loan, click the "Repayment schedule" link on the loan profile under "Loan details."
What is the disbursed date?
In the case of partner loans, many of our Lending Partners choose to disburse loan funds before the loan request is posted on Kiva. We allow pre-disbursal because it ensures that the funds reach the borrower as soon as they are needed. Loan funds from Kiva lenders then go to backfill that amount and as a lender you assume the risk of the loan. By doing this, our Lending Partners assume the risk that, if the loan isn't funded by lenders, they will have to fund the loan without any funds from Kiva.
If a partner loan is not pre-disbursed, it will be listed on Kiva with an expected "post-disbursed" date. If a post-disbursed loan is not funded on Kiva, there is a chance that the borrower may not receive their loan. Some Lending Partners choose to disburse loans with other sources of funding, while other partners don't have the resources available to fund loans without Kiva lenders' support. No direct loans will be disbursed unless they fully fundraise on Kiva.
Funding model
What does "Partner covers currency loss" mean & how could it affect my Kiva loans?
Potential for currency exchange loss is noted on every loan profile under the loan details:
"Yes" means the Lending Partner will cover any currency loss. Lenders will not bear losses due to currency fluctuation
"Partial" means that the Lending Partner has opted to cover losses only up to 10%. If the U.S. dollar appreciates more than 10% against the local currency, those losses will be passed onto lenders.
"No" means that the Lending Partner is not covering any currency losses and all losses will be passed onto lenders.
"N/A" means the Lending Partner disburses loans to borrowers in USD so their loans are not subject to any currency fluctuation.
Do Kiva borrowers pay any interest on their loans?
Our partners collect interest from borrowers because there are many operational expenses associated with microfinance in developing markets, especially in rural areas. Many of Kiva's Lending Partners also provide additional services alongside their loan products such as business training, financial literacy lessons, or health services.
Kiva will not partner with an organization that charges unreasonable interest rates, and we require Lending Partners to fully disclose their rates. In addition, we only partner with microfinance institutions and organizations that have a social mission to serve the poor, unbanked, and underserved.
There are some 0% interest loans on Kiva, including all direct loans in the United States. To learn more about the interest rates Kiva borrowers pay, you can review the "Average cost to borrower" field on a loan profile.
We also encourage you to read the following articles if you are interested in further educating yourself on the topic: Microfinance 101 (https://www.kiva.org/microfinance), Top 10 things to know about microfinance (https://www.kiva.org/blog/top-10-things-to-know-about-microfinance), Microfinance interest rates explained (https://www.kiva.org/blog/whats-up-with-microfinance-interest-rates)
What is a risk rating?
The Lending Partner risk rating reflects the risk of institutional default associated with each of Kiva’s Lending Partners. A 0.5-star rating means the organization has a relatively higher risk of institutional default, while a 5-star rating indicates the organization is at a relatively lower risk of default, based on Kiva's analysis and the available information displayed in the Lending Partner section of every loan. Lending Partners with the lowest credit tier undergo a lighter level of due diligence and do not receive a risk rating; instead, in places where a risk rating would normally appear, these partners are labeled as “Experimental.” For more information, see "What is an Experimental Lending Partner?"
Direct loans also do not receive a formal risk rating. Instead, these loans are approved through “social underwriting”, where trustworthiness is determined by friends & family lending a portion of the loan request, or by a Kiva approved Trustee vouching for the borrower. Direct loans will appear as "Unrated" and lenders should always assume these loans represent the highest level of repayment risk on Kiva.
How are loans facilitated?
Kiva loans are facilitated through 2 models, partner and direct, that enable us to reach the greatest number of people around the world.
For partner loans, borrowers apply to a local Lending Partner, which manages the loan on the ground. Lending Partners are responsible for screening borrowers, disbursing loans, posting borrowers to the Kiva website for funding, collecting repayments and otherwise administering Kiva loans on the ground to borrowers.
For direct loans, borrowers apply through the Kiva website and may or may not be endorsed by a Trustee. Unlike Lending Partners, Trustees don't handle any financial transactions or have any duty to repay loans on behalf of their borrowers. Instead, Trustees take the role of providing support and business advice to their borrowers throughout the term of the loan.
More information about successive and concurrent loans
Most borrowers take out loans consecutively, meaning that they receive a second loan after having repaid the first. However, sometimes our Lending Partners give out concurrent loans, allowing borrowers to take out one primary loan and a secondary "add-on" loan along with it. These additional loans are typically smaller than the borrower's primary loan and serve a different purpose. We trust our partners to determine whether a borrower has the means to be able to repay a successive or concurrent loan.
Trustee: StartupJunkie.org
What are Trustee tiers?
For for more information about Trustee tiers, visit: kivaushub.org/trustee-tiers
Why are you endorsing Randy?
I have worked with Randy during his application. He is very well respected in the NWA community, and he contributes to our community development in several different ways.
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