The city's Economic Development Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend a Riverside-based nonprofit lender administer a new $135,000 loan fund for green-technology and innovation businesses.
The committee's recommendation sends a five-year agreement with First Community Capital Inc. (FCCI) to the full City Council for final approval. Under the agreement, FCCI would manage day-to-day operations of the Riverside GreenTech & Innovation Revolving Loan Fund — including application intake, underwriting, servicing and collections — in exchange for a flat $8,000-a-year fee, or $40,000 over the term of the contract.
The loan fund and FCCI's fee are both funded through a $250,000 grant the city received in October 2025 from Thrive Inland SoCal's Catalyst Funding program, part of the state's California Jobs First Initiative.
City officials said none of the cost falls on Riverside's general fund.
The fund would offer two loan products: up to $10,000 for startups and up to $20,000 for existing businesses, both carrying a 6.25% interest rate and terms of up to five years. Eligible uses include equipment, prototype development, working capital and market expansion, with priority given to green-technology, innovation-based and job-creating businesses located within the city.
One caller during public comment questioned the program's proportions, saying the administrative fee appeared to represent close to a third of the fund itself and that loans of $10,000 to $20,000 seemed too small to produce meaningful economic or climate impact.
Committee chair Steven Robillard responded that the loans are not intended as standalone financing but as one piece of a larger "stack" of funding sources — such as SBA loans and other targeted programs for women- or minority-owned businesses — that small businesses typically combine.He also reiterated that the money comes entirely from the state grant and would not be an out-of-pocket cost to the city.
Committee members asked staff how the city would recoup funds if borrowers default.
Jessica Gonzales, a senior project manager with the city's Community and Economic Development Department, said FCCI's underwriting standards and loan-loss safeguards — including working with borrowers on adjusted repayment plans before default — were built into the agreement to protect the grant funds.
Jay Diallo, FCCI founder, told the committee the organization is one of two Community Development Financial Institutions headquartered in the Inland Empire and the only one based in Riverside.
He said FCCI's exposure on defaults is limited because the fund would participate in a state loan guarantee program covering 80% of losses, along with a loan-loss reserve matched by the state. He also said a prior $250,000 grant awarded to the organization has grown to roughly $420,000 through repayment and reinvestment, and that the city fund is intended to work the same way, recycling repaid principal and interest into new loans over time.
Some committee members raised the possibility of expanding related green-tech funding in the future, including the $25,000 UCR Excite startup incubation program and the Voltu Green Workforce Training Cohort, which currently funds training for five participants.
If approved by the City Council, the agreement would be executed next month, with marketing to clean-tech and innovation businesses running through September and October and loan applications opening in October, according to Diallo.
The item passed the committee unanimously, and will go before the city council in the coming weeks.
