CASE STUDY

2022-2026 Strategic Roadmap and Implementation

Client: Appalachian Community Capital

Appalachian region in the United States

THE CHALLENGE

Appalachian Community Capital (ACC) is a unique multi-state US mezzanine funder and capacity-building institution serving Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the 13-state, 423 County area of Greater Appalachia. They faced the need to transform their Strategic Plan in the context of the pandemic recovery and regional energy transition, particularly around achieving greater scale, impact and solutions innovation in the areas of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Green Finance.

SOLUTION

The Shining Rock Ventures Team implemented a range of strategic processes, including use of the Strategyzer© Business Model System, Scenario Analysis, Key Stakeholder Interviews, GIS-mapped data analytics and co-creation stakeholder and governance workshops to develop a five-year Strategic Roadmap and Implementation Plan.

The plan focused on four key pillars:

  1. Blended Finance

  2. Knowledge & Learning Network Creation

  3. Technology Transformation

  4. Structured Finance.

OUTCOME

The Board approved the plan, and within its first two years of implementation:

  • ACC’s membership grew by over 25%, to include 33 lending institutions with over $2 billion in portfolio deployed to thousands of regional small businesses

  • Secured an anchor patient-capital investment of $10 million from the Ford Foundation in ACC’s blended capital funding facility,

  • Launched a regional ‘platform as a service’ demonstration Data Hub, including recognition as a Clinton Global Initiative Commitment.

Shining Rock Ventures continued to support ACC through the facilitation of CDFI member-led regional action plans for broadening and deepening financial access for business owners of color and those in distressed rural areas, as well as a regional action plan for the expansion of green and inclusive finance solutions.

Donna Gambrell, CEO Appalachina Community Capital

Jesse Fripp and the Shining Rock Ventures team brought a unique set of specialized skills (finance, economic development, data analysis, facilitation, strategic planning) as consultants for Appalachian Community Capital (ACC). We first worked together in 2020 on a roadmap for the organization to address the shifting landscape in the community economic development field due to the impact of COVID-19. Since then, Jesse and his team have been involved in numerous ACC operational, policy, and programmatic priorities.

They have been instrumental in helping us identify ways to grow ACC and to support the resilient communities and small businesses located in underserved areas across Appalachia.

— Donna Gambrell, President & CEO, Appalachian Community Capital