Bridge Investment celebrates 10 years, prepares for future

The Bridge Investment Community Development Corporation is celebrating 10 years of helping businesses get moving, helping people get jobs and helping the community grow. “This is a milestone year for us,” said Brian Hollenback, executive director of Bridge Investment, during a celebration late Tuesday, Dec. 17, to honor its 10th anniversary. About 100 people attended […]

The Bridge Investment Community Development Corporation is celebrating 10 years of helping businesses get moving, helping people get jobs and helping the community grow. “This is a milestone year for us,” said Brian Hollenback, executive director of Bridge Investment, during a celebration late Tuesday, Dec. 17, to honor its 10th anniversary. About 100 people attended the event at Green Current Solutions in East Moline, one of Bridge Investment’s borrowers.

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Since its founding in 2014, Bridge Investment has steadily grown from a small, emerging Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) into a powerful force for economic opportunity and transformative community impact. Over the past 10 years, Bridge Investment has provided $13.2 million in loans, supported 115 businesses, and facilitated $187.7 million in total investments, creating  opportunities and driving sustainable growth in underserved areas. During Tuesday’s celebration, Bridge Investment officials – along with business, political and community leaders – helped the organization celebrate its past, honor its success stories and look forward to big events planned for 2025. “For the past 10 years, we’ve focused on addressing ongoing challenges, especially the lack of capital. Bridge Investment plays a key role in closing financial gaps to support small businesses and affordable housing. With each loan and investment, we help businesses grow, improve quality of life, create jobs, and build stronger communities,” Mr. Hollenback said in a news release before Tuesday’s ceremony. During the celebration, he pointed out two developments planned for the new year. First, an event called “Pitch.Connect.Fund.” is set for 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at the Holiday Inn, Rock Island. That event will give people with business plans an opportunity to meet with economic development officials and get funding for those plans. “In 2025, we're scaling up with a target of over $500 million in capital, offered through our esteemed presenters and pitch panelists. This is your opportunity to pitch your deal, network, connect with key investors, and discover how to access low-cost sources of capital to meet a portion of your capital needs. If you have a pending deal poised to create jobs, stimulate growth, or transform communities, this is where it all comes together,” according to information from Bridge Investment. The event will be sponsored by Modern Woodmen of America, with additional sponsors to be announced at a later date. Also, Mr. Hollenback told the crowd on Tuesday that Bridge will launch a Green Loan Program next year. This will be a loan founding program for environmentally sustainable projects with low-income, disadvantaged communities. One of the goals is to promote eco-friendly development. One of Bridge’s success stories is Green Current Solutions, a plastic injection molding company located at 401 12th Ave., that is at the center of environmentally sustainable projects. Green Current makes plastic, injection molded pallets. The pallets are made of 100% recycled HDPE (high density polyethylene) plastic, with much of that plastic recovered from trash dumped in rivers. During Tuesday’s events, many of the new pallets were stacked in the back of the room near the celebration. Each of the pallets is stamped with the phrase: “Made with Ocean Bound Plastic.” Tammy Becker, the CEO of Green Current Solutions, gave the crowd a brief history of her startup company and praised Bridge Investment's help. Some of the highlights on Bridge Investment’s CDFI Financing work over the years includes:

• $5.8 million invested in rural communities.
• $4.6 million invested in the Illinois Quad Cities (including $4.2 million in Rock Island, where Bridge Investment is based).
• $1.1 million in the Iowa Quad Cities.
• $1.5 million in metro communities.
• The service area of Bridge Investment spans nationally, with a primary focus on lending in Iowa and Illinois.
• 67% of Bridge Investment’s total loans have supported minority-owned businesses and minority-led non-profits. Additionally, 92.7% of loans have been directed to initiatives and businesses in low-income census tracts, with 50% benefiting areas with majority-minority populations.

The anniversary celebration also included the presentation of awards and money.  Steve Ollenburg, a key figure in Bridge Investment’s founding, was honored with the Vision Award for his instrumental role in establishing the organization. After an initial conversation with John Stavnes, formerly of Wells Fargo, Mr. Ollenburg took the initiative to seek and form a new Community Development Corporation (CDC) following the dissolution of the Quad Cities CDC, ensuring resources remained in the region.  Also, a special check presentation to Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) concluded the event, with the organization receiving a $50,000 contribution to support their Mississippi River Institute. This contribution was made possible through the Joint-County Opportunity Benefit Support Fund. This contribution was facilitated by Mr. Hollenback and supported through a collaboration with Economic Growth Corporation. During the celebration, Chad Pregracke,  the founder of LL&W, the East Moline-based organization helping clean up many of the nation’s waterways and rivers, praised Bridge Investment and its partners for helping fund businesses and  organizations that help people in the community. “You give people the ability to change lives,” he added. The $50,000 donation will directly support LL&W’s Mississippi River Institute (MRI), an innovative floating classroom providing free educational workshops and career exploration opportunities for students from underserved backgrounds. Since its inception, the MRI has been stationed in the Quad Cities and St. Louis, and has provided free workforce development workshops to 694 students. The MRI’s benefits include:

• Free workshops for low-income high school, trade school, and community college students focused on river-related careers.
• Opportunities to connect with industry partners and recruiters.
• Potential collaboration with the Mike Rowe Foundation to support scholarships for river careers.
• Exposure to career opportunities across major Mississippi River cities such as St. Louis, Memphis, St. Paul, and Minneapolis.
• Additionally, LL&W collaborates with Green Current Solutions (GCS) to combat plastic pollution.
• GCS recycles plastic debris collected by LL&W into new eco-friendly plastic pallets, reducing the need for single-use wood pallets and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Connecting resources is central to our mission, and we’ll continue to facilitate capital and serve as a conduit to support businesses that drive lasting impact in targeted areas. We’ve seen this with past borrowers like Wholly Grinds Coffee Shop and The Growth Gathering Fellowship,” said Mr. Hollenback in a news release before Tuesday’s celebration. “Living Lands & Waters’ Mississippi River Institute increases access to education and creates career pathways that lead to meaningful, long-term change. Hosting the check presentation at Green Current Solutions — which repurposes plastics collected by Living Lands & Waters from river cleanups — perfectly highlighted this circular connection. We remain committed to driving additional investments from national resources.”