Beyond the Middle™ Capital Intensives · Birmingham & Richmond

CRA-aligned community development services.

Beyond the Middle™ Capital Intensives provide coaching, financial readiness, and capital matchmaking to small businesses — and the CRA recognizes support for small businesses, provided through an intermediary, as economic-development community development.

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Who we are: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping growth-ready businesses in the U.S. South reach the Missing Middle — the gap between early traction and durable scale.
What we do: Run 12-week Capital Intensives — coaching, financial readiness, and Capital Matchmaking — plus up to 9 months of post-program support.
Who we help: Overlooked, undercapitalized owner-operated businesses with traction, primarily in Greater Birmingham and Greater Richmond.

Designed to align with the CRA's economic-development provisions.

The CRA recognizes support for small businesses, provided through an intermediary, as economic-development community development. Here is the regulation — and where The Capital Collective fits.

Economic development

12 CFR § 25.13(c)(2)

OCC Community Reinvestment Act regulations · § 25.13(c) — Economic development

Under the current rule, supporting small businesses is community development. A bank earns consideration by backing an intermediary that helps them — through three categories:

Loans, investments, or services provided to intermediaries that lend to, invest in, or provide assistance, such as financial counseling, shared space, technology, or administrative assistance, to small businesses or small farms.

1Community development investment — a grant or donation to The Capital Collective, an intermediary that supports small businesses.
2Community development loan — a loan to The Capital Collective as a small-business intermediary.
3Community development service — bank staff volunteering financial expertise, related to the provision of financial services (§ 25.12).

Impact to date.

Businesses served

60%+

Received capital

$10M+

Capital secured

137

New jobs created

Cities · BHM & RVA

Two ways to partner.

Option 1

Fund a Capital Intensive

A 12-week program serving 12 businesses, with documented community development activities.

Option 2

Fund post-program support

Up to 9 months of continued coaching plus cohort and alumni events (October–January).

For discussion only — not legal or compliance advice. The CRA regulation (12 CFR part 25) is in transition, and the examples here are illustrative, not a safe harbor. Each institution must confirm CRA treatment and the controlling citation with its own counsel and regulator.

Partner to build what's next.

We'll walk through program documentation, cohort timing, and partnership structures with your community development team.

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