Adversity is the first path to truth. (Lord Byron)
In the midst of clamor, distress, insecurity, and despair, 2009 was a good year for Finance Fund though it was, by most accounts, unique and demanding. William Shakespeare said “Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?” If 2009 were to judge us by performance and not desire my characterization might not stand. From investor fatigue, credit anxiety, client frustration, and employment turmoil there wasn’t much that the year didn’t throw at us. But, despite the challenges confronted I stand by my declaration. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
This was a year of staging for the next step. Though not necessarily sought, it provided and opportunity to examine, scrutinize, and calibrate a response to the dramatically changed market conditions. This realignment of staff and strategy has resulted in a stronger staff, new approaches at deploying resources, renewed enthusiasm for engaging staff and board, and an invigorated passion for new initiatives that help distressed communities. We’ve gone back to check our values, vision and mission, held them up against our strategies and recharged our batteries. Finance Fund’s renewed circumstance is due primarily to the growing strength of our people and their ability to embrace change by making it work for us not against us.
2009 has positioned us to explode into 2010 with a new fervor for mission and accomplishment as yet un-experienced by Finance Fund. We have more than $75 million in loan funds and nearly $3 million in grants and linked deposits to place into Ohio’s distressed communities in the next 12 months. This is five times more resources than ever before. We have a number of initiatives that are moving forward with deliberate speed; i.e. “Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.” (William Shakespeare) These, like the bank initiative and the CDFI funding initiative, will be “blossoming” in 2010. To say we are excited is to significantly underestimate our sense of expectancy.
One man’s remorse is another man’s reminiscence. (Ogden Nash)
This entry was posted
on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 1:31 pm and is filed under CDFI, Commentary.
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Welcome to the Finance Fund Blog!
Reflections on a good 2009
written on January 8th, 2010 | by James R. Klein
Adversity is the first path to truth. (Lord Byron)
In the midst of clamor, distress, insecurity, and despair, 2009 was a good year for Finance Fund though it was, by most accounts, unique and demanding. William Shakespeare said “Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?” If 2009 were to judge us by performance and not desire my characterization might not stand. From investor fatigue, credit anxiety, client frustration, and employment turmoil there wasn’t much that the year didn’t throw at us. But, despite the challenges confronted I stand by my declaration. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
This was a year of staging for the next step. Though not necessarily sought, it provided and opportunity to examine, scrutinize, and calibrate a response to the dramatically changed market conditions. This realignment of staff and strategy has resulted in a stronger staff, new approaches at deploying resources, renewed enthusiasm for engaging staff and board, and an invigorated passion for new initiatives that help distressed communities. We’ve gone back to check our values, vision and mission, held them up against our strategies and recharged our batteries. Finance Fund’s renewed circumstance is due primarily to the growing strength of our people and their ability to embrace change by making it work for us not against us.
2009 has positioned us to explode into 2010 with a new fervor for mission and accomplishment as yet un-experienced by Finance Fund. We have more than $75 million in loan funds and nearly $3 million in grants and linked deposits to place into Ohio’s distressed communities in the next 12 months. This is five times more resources than ever before. We have a number of initiatives that are moving forward with deliberate speed; i.e. “Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.” (William Shakespeare) These, like the bank initiative and the CDFI funding initiative, will be “blossoming” in 2010. To say we are excited is to significantly underestimate our sense of expectancy.
One man’s remorse is another man’s reminiscence. (Ogden Nash)
Tags: CDFI, Finance Fund, Ogden Nash, William Shakespeare
This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 1:31 pm and is filed under CDFI, Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.