Focused crowdfunding platforms for the development of locally-focused businesses

The Baltimore Business Journal reports ("Union Collective winery using new crowdfunding technique to raise $107K ") how the Wine Collective in the Union Collective food-oriented makerspace in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore is crowdfunding, seeking  to raise up to $107,000 for furniture and build out expenses for their tasting room.

Rather than receiving gifts (wine, etc.) in return for funding, it will be considered an investment, with financial returns.  From the article:

The investment is structured as a loan with a 10% interest rate and payments disbursed to investors quarterly. A $100 investment could earn $6.37 a quarter, with a potential total repayment of $127.48 over a 60-month term, according to a chart posted to the fundraising page.

They are working with the Pittsburgh based Honeycomb Credit, which specializes in providing crowdfunded based credit for small businesses and the Maryland Neighborhood Exchange, which focuses on providing crowdfunded investments for local business ventures exclusively in Maryland.

Many many years ago I suggested that similar kinds of funds could be created to support neighborhood and commercial district revitalization projects, to fix up languishing properties and attract desired businesses.

I thought Fundrise could be a model for this, but mostly that became a means for funneling foreign funding to projects in return for green cards.

At one time, the Main Street program in Takoma Park, Maryland created a fund to help finance new retail and restaurant businesses ("Investing in local businesses as a missing piece of community development: Takoma Notes local financing as an answer"). But it appears that the initiative was not maintained.

Local commercial and residential district revitalization initiatives need to hook up with organizations like these, and/or work to create similar vehicles in their states.