After 22 years in Lincoln County, Damariscotta nonprofit The Genesis Fund plans to purchase a building in downtown Brunswick and move there in spring 2015.
The Genesis Fund helps nonprofits secure loans for the development of affordable housing and community facilities throughout the state.
Genesis directly lends money, leverages money with collaborative loan packages, and provides technical assistance to help nonprofits access federal, state, and private funds.
Lincoln County beneficiaries include Coastal Kids Preschool in Damariscotta, Campbell Creek Village in Boothbay Harbor, a 36-unit affordable housing development for families and seniors; Medomak Mobile Home Cooperative in Waldoboro, the first mobile home co-op in the state; and Rising Tide Community Market in Damariscotta.
The Genesis Fund has a purchase-and-sale agreement in place to buy a building at 22 Lincoln St. in Brunswick, according to Executive Director William Floyd.
The building is at the corner of Lincoln and Union streets, within a block of Maine Street. The building was once home to a fine-dining restaurant, 22 Lincoln, and more recently housed a physical therapy office.
The move would place Genesis closer to the majority of the organizations it assists.
“We were always designed to be a statewide organization and serve the state, which we have,” Floyd said. “Over the last five years … we’ve really grown all over the state, so now, as a loan fund, only 5 percent of our loan proceeds right now are in Lincoln County; 95 percent are elsewhere.”
“Predominantly it’s in York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc (counties), up the 295 and 95 corridor to Bangor, and we do a lot of technical assistance, consulting and lending, and we need to be closer to the folks we do business with,” Floyd said.
The Genesis Fund has six full- and part-time employees for a total of 4 1/2 full-time-equivalent positions, according to Floyd. All six employees plan to stay on.
“Most the the employees live closer to Brunswick, actually, than Damariscotta,” Floyd said.
Genesis will likely create some new positions in “the next couple of years,” including a chief financial officer and program staff, Floyd said.
Floyd believes the move will result in a net gain of jobs for Damariscotta, as Mobius Inc. is going to purchase the Genesis building at 3 Chapman St. and will likely add staff for the programs it plans to house there – one growing program and one new program.
Genesis purchased the Chapman Street property from Sweetser in 2009, according to town records.
The story of The Genesis Fund begins in 1992. “Some churches got together and raised some money and some interest, and then (Coastal Enterprises Inc.) wrote a grant and hosted Genesis for a while, and then Genesis was a separate nonprofit,” Floyd said.
Founding Executive Director Elizabeth McPherson operated The Genesis Fund out of an extra room in her Bristol home during the early years, Floyd said. She had a $40,000 budget.
“Genesis grew for the last 22 years,” Floyd said, eventually moving into offices at 26 Water St. in Damariscotta.
Genesis had total assets of $12.08 million as of the close of fiscal year 2014, according to its annual report. The fund has loaned $25.77 million and leveraged another $159.64 million in funds for nonprofits during its 22 years.
Genesis’ move to Brunswick will take place in the same year as CEI’s move from downtown Wiscasset to new offices at 30 Federal St. in Brunswick, but Floyd said the timing is a coincidence.
