Borrower Stories

Rug Pad USA manufactures custom-cut pads for carpet, laminate, tile, and other types of flooring. Their products are sold worldwide through their website, as well as through powerhouse e-commerce channels like Amazon and Wayfair. The company had their eye on a 200k square-foot facility in Suffield, Connecticut for their new corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing […]

Congratulations to Deke Haylon on the opening of his second Deke’s Bagels shop! Deke’s first location, in Niantic, opened in 2015 as the very first business to leverage the CIC Community Advantage program. With a business vision as sharp as his talent in the kitchen, it is no surprise that Deke’s business is growing. His […]

Congratulations to Juan Lantigua, owner and founder of The Family Cake in Providence, Rhode Island, for winning the 2020 Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year award! From the Rhode Island district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration: Juan Lantigua’s path to opening the Family Cake is an uncommon one. Born in the Dominican Republic, […]

What happens when you combine a love for food, a global pandemic, and the undeniable comfort that’s found at the bottom of a pastry box? You get the birth of a unique and wonderful bakery! In this case, Blush Bakeshop in Providence, Rhode Island, started with all of the above and a Microloan from CIC. […]

Last year, our lending team was introduced to an entrepreneur in the Providence, Rhode Island area who had a passion for chocolate. It wasn’t the kind of passion that the everyday, regular person has, it was deeper — more like the feeling a wine connoisseur gets from a vintage bottle that’s been perfectly stored and […]

Microloans are ideal for small food businesses, especially start-ups. In the case of Olive & Henry, a microloan from CIC was used to launch the brick and mortar shop that serves as host to an ahhhhmazing list of fine foods, cheeses, baked goods, jams, and more. (Are you hungry yet?!) Olive & Henry will be […]