Wentworth Economic Development Corporation

What Wentworth Economic Development Corporation does

Wentworth Economic Development Corporation (WEDCO) is a 501c-3 nonprofit economic development corporation founded in 1993 and headquartered in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The organization deploys catalytic gap financing to small businesses across the Lakes Region — specifically Northern Strafford, Carroll, Belknap, and parts of Grafton Counties — that may not qualify for conventional bank loans but demonstrate strong potential and character. WEDCO operates with a lean staff of two paid employees (Executive Director Jack Terrill and Administrative Assistant Rosemary Lounsbury) supported by a seven-member volunteer Board of Directors with expertise in commercial banking, accounting, commercial real estate, municipal planning, and small-business M&A.

WEDCO's core product is its Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), a perpetual capital engine in which principal repayments are immediately restricted for redeployment into new loans, and interest income supports operations. To date the fund has deployed approximately $9.8 million from WEDCO's own sources and leveraged approximately $37.9 million from traditional lenders, a 4:1 leverage ratio achieved by taking subordinate positions to fill capital gaps that banks cannot close alone. The organization also runs the WEDCONOMIC$ Podcast (27 episodes across two seasons) as a community-education channel. There is no proprietary technology platform; the offering is fundamentally a relationship-driven, human-judgment-based lending operation focused on the "5 C's of Credit."

WEDCO's revenue model combines transaction-fee income (interest on RLF loans) with subscription-style capital contributions from individuals, families, foundations, and institutional investors via the Small Business Investors' Club (minimum $50,000 participation, tax-deductible). Capital is also sourced from public partners including USDA Rural Development, the NH Business Finance Authority (NHBFA), and the Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA). Go-to-market is relationship-led: outreach is conducted primarily through the Executive Director, the podcast, and referrals via the NH Small Business Development Center and local bank partners. WEDCO's customers are small businesses in industries ranging from manufacturing and healthcare to agriculture, food & beverage, marine services, and construction; traditional lenders function as a secondary customer/partner segment for gap-financing arrangements.

Name

Wentworth Economic Development Corporation

Legal name

Wentworth Economic Development Corporation

Website

https://wedco-nh.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wentworth Economic Development Corporation (WEDCO) is a 501c-3 nonprofit founded in 1993 that provides catalytic gap financing through a Revolving Loan Fund to small businesses in New Hampshire's Lakes Region that cannot access conventional bank credit, supported by institutional and individual investor capital.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development Finance

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Short-Term Business Credit Institutions (6153)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Sector & Blended Finance Arms (IFC-type) (BPADACAJ)

Keywords

• Small business lending
• Economic development financing
• Gap financing
• Revolving loan fund
• Community development finance

Headquarters

HQ city

Wolfeboro

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Revolving Loan Fund - Interest Income: WEDCO generates revenue through interest payments on loans deployed from its Revolving Loan Fund. Principal repayments are restricted and recycled for future lending, while interest income supports operational sustainability. The organization also receives contributions and capital from public and private sources.
2. Small Business Investors' Club Contributions: Individual, family, and institutional investors contribute capital to the Revolving Loan Fund, with a minimum participation level of $50,000. These contributions are tax-deductible as the organization is a 501c-3 nonprofit. Capital is deployed as loans, repaid, and reinvested in perpetuity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

WEDCO operates a Revolving Loan Fund that provides gap financing to small businesses in New Hampshire's Lakes Region that cannot access conventional bank financing. Capital is deployed, repaid with interest, and immediately reinvested in new loans, creating a perpetual capital cycle. The organization complements traditional lenders by taking subordinate positions on loans and partnering with NH Small Business Development Center for borrower advisory oversight.

Product overview

WEDCO offers a single unified service model centered on its Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), which provides catalytic gap financing to small businesses in New Hampshire's Lakes Region. The organization complements traditional lenders by stepping in where capital gaps exist. The WEDCONOMIC$ Podcast serves as an educational and awareness tool aligned with the mission to advise, finance, and promote small business in the region. WEDCO is not a technology platform but rather a 501c-3 non-profit economic development organization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WEDCONOMIC$ Podcast: A podcast produced by WEDCO that raises awareness of its mission, highlights client successes, educates entrepreneurs about small business challenges, and focuses on keys to success and credit.

Products and services

• Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) A perpetual gap-financing loan fund that provides catalytic capital to small businesses in New Hampshire's Lakes Region that may not qualify for conventional lending. Loans are deployed, repaid with interest, and principal is immediately reinvested into new regional opportunities, generating a sustainable capital engine with a 4:1 leverage ratio against traditional lenders.

Quantifiable outcome

• $9.8M loaned from WEDCO sources, $37.9M leveraged from traditional sources, 4:1 leverage ratio
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NH Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership providing professional advisory oversight for WEDCO's loan portfolio. NH SBDC offers high-level financial monitoring and business planning support to borrowers, helping to de-risk regional investments and ensure long-term viability.
• Traditional Lenders (Banks)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWEDCO partners with traditional financial institutions to provide gap financing. Banks provide primary lending while WEDCO fills capital gaps, taking subordinate positions to make deals viable. Every $1 WEDCO deploys leverages $4 from traditional sources.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC): Massachusetts quasi-public CDFI providing small business loans, technical assistance, and gap financing across the Commonwealth. Comparable as a New England CDFI but operating at meaningfully larger scale and with state-government backing rather than pure 501c-3 structure.
• NH Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC): Federal-state partnership providing no-cost business advisory and education to New Hampshire small businesses. Existing WEDCO partner delivering the advisory component of WEDCO's combined advising-plus-financing model.
• New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority (NH CDFA): New Hampshire's state-level community development finance authority and existing WEDCO capital partner. Overlaps with WEDCO in deploying public capital for community and small business development in the state.
• New Hampshire Business Finance Authority (NHBFA): State-level economic development finance authority and existing WEDCO partner. Provides capital resources to New Hampshire small businesses but operates as a public authority rather than a community-based nonprofit lender.

Direct peers

• Vermont Community Loan Fund: Vermont-based CDFI offering small business loans and gap financing in rural New England communities. Operates a comparable nonprofit lending model targeting businesses that don't qualify for conventional bank financing in a small-state geography adjacent to WEDCO's service area.
• Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI): Maine-based CDFI providing loans, equity, and business advisory to underserved small businesses and communities. Closest functional peer — a regional nonprofit lender operating a similar gap-financing / revolving fund model with comparable public-private partnership structure.

Others

• USDA Rural Development: Federal agency providing loans, grants, and loan guarantees for rural business and community development. Existing WEDCO capital partner whose B&I and rural business programs overlap with WEDCO's lending focus but operate at national scale with public funding.
• Opportunity Finance Network (OFN): National membership and trade association for CDFIs including WEDCO. Not a direct competitor but the industry body governing certification, capital allocation, and peer benchmarking for the CDFI sector in which WEDCO operates.

Broad incumbents

• Enterprise Community Partners: National nonprofit operating CDFIs, loan funds, and tax credit programs for community development and small business. Comparable mission and revolving-fund architecture to WEDCO, but with national reach and significantly greater AUM.
• LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation): National-scale CDFI providing loans, investments, and technical assistance for community development across the U.S. Operates the same gap-financing / catalytic capital model as WEDCO but at materially larger scale and with broader programmatic scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WEDCONH
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wedco---wentworth-economic-development-corp-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wentworth Economic Development Corporation