After Redenius graduated in 2016 from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, the next big question became where to establish his business.

Redenius and his wife, Jenny, a Hudson native, assessed their options. They considered moving to Waverly, since it’s a growing community and a college town, but it proved more affordable for Redenius to open his chiropractic clinic and a fitness center in his hometown of Lake City, especially when a former dime store on Main Street came up for sale.

While it’s one thing to have a dream, it’s another to fund it. Redenius is grateful for the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative’s Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). He secured a $50,000 loan at 1 percent financing to create his chiropractic clinic and fitness center, which opened in 2016.

“I had limited resources at the time, but they were willing to work with me,” said Redenius, 32, who received some other loans and relied on a few credit cards to help launch his business. “The RLF was crucial to help me get up and running.”

-Photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Dr. Jeff Redenius, a chiropractor from Lake City, is grateful for the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative’s Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). When he was starting his business, he secured a $50,000 loan through the RLF to create his chiropractic clinic and fitness center, which opened in 2016.

Loans support wide

range of projects

Calhoun County Electric Cooperative’s RLF provides low-interest loans to assist with local economic and community development projects within the cooperative’s service territory, including Calhoun, Greene, Pocahontas, Sac and Webster counties.

“We don’t compete with banks, and we’re considered a gap financer,” said Keaton Hildreth, CEO of the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative in Rockwell City. “We’ve offered 44 loans and have finished 35 of them so far.”

The RLF has approximately $350,000 and includes grants and loans from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. While loans can range from $5,000 to $50,000, an average Calhoun County Electric Cooperative RLF loan today is around $27,000 at 2 percent interest, Hildreth said.

“We can’t fund more than 50 percent of the project,” he added.

The RLF has helped support the growth of a number of Manson-area businesses, including the trucking firm Peterson Transportation, Inc.; Starstruck Dance Center; Thoma Construction and Manson Family Dentistry. RLF funds have also helped support the development of the new Calhoun County Business Park near Twin Lakes, Little Feet Learning Center, a childcare center in Rockwell City, and a number of small businesses in Lake City and other communities.

The RLF is designed to support job creation and retention, diversification of the local economy, and public infrastructure upgrades to improve the health, safety and/or medical care of rural residents.

“The goal of the RLF is to help provide amenities to the community that might not be available otherwise,” Hildreth said.

Loans are available to new or expanding private businesses in rural areas, local governments and nonprofit, community development organizations. The RLF helped Knoke upgrade its fire station, Hildreth said.

All applicants are required to submit a business plan.

“We do a lot of vetting, and we interview the candidates before we make a loan,” said Hildreth, who added that the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative’s board of directors administers the RLF. “We also have a review committee that includes a couple bankers. All these factors contribute to the success of the RLF.”

RLF powers opportunity

RLF money can be used for business or industrial acquisition, business construction or expansion, and equipment and machinery purchases. Loans can’t be used for agricultural production, refinancing or normal business replacement needs, investment or insurance, gambling, illegal activities, or individual residential construction or purchase.

“This means we don’t finance hog barns or spec homes,” Hildreth said.

Loan terms are 10 years for eligible building, real estate, infrastructure and housing projects. Terms are seven years for eligible equipment loans.

The Calhoun County Electric Cooperative’s RLF can align with other rural electric cooperative funds to support larger projects, like the new Calhoun County Business Park near Twin Lakes. A maximum of 80 percent of a project can be funded by the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative’s RLF, in conjunction with revolving loan funds from other rural electric cooperatives and Corn Belt Power Cooperative.

“The additional funds through Corn Belt Power Cooperative helped the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors get on board with the Calhoun County Business Park project,” Hildreth said.

A groundbreaking ceremony on June 3, 2021, marked the beginning of construction on this 115-acre business park, which is developing at the intersection of four-lane U.S. Highway 20 and Iowa Highway 4, just north of Rockwell City. This is the first business park to be located in Calhoun County, and it is one of the first to be built along rural U.S. Highway 20 since the four-lane highway expansion project was completed in 2018.

“This type of development is a chicken-and-egg deal,” Hildreth said. “A business park helps drive economic development, but how do you get the funds to build it in the first place? We’re glad the RLF could help support this business park.”

Redenius is grateful that the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative’s RLF helped him make Redenius Chiropractic and Lake City 24-Hour Fitness a reality.

“This loan allowed me to build my practice the way I needed to build it, and it has allowed my business to grow so I can offer more to the community,” Redenius said. “Plus, my wife and I appreciate the opportunity to raise our family here.”