When Allies for Community Business set out to scale operations, they approached it with a clear understanding: sustainable growth would depend on the right external support.
As a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving entrepreneurs across Illinois and Indiana since 1994, their mission is to put capital, coaching, and connections into the hands of small business owners. Every dollar directed toward overhead is a dollar that never reaches the entrepreneurs they serve. How they grew mattered as much as how much they could grow.
Scaling, then, required rethinking how servicing, systems, and processes worked together. It also meant finding a partner willing to build alongside the organization, not deliver a one-size-fits-all solution.
The result was a 300% increase in loan volume, achieved without a significant expansion of the team behind it. The story begins with a bold decision made at the start of the decade.
In 2021, A4CB made three deliberate decisions at once to reshape how the organization would operate at scale.
Mary Tritsis, Chief Lending and Credit Officer at Allies for Community Business, put it directly: “We made a bold decision... we wanted to scale and wanted to do so without the added cost of additional staff.”
That decision took shape across three simultaneous changes:
All three changes were designed to work together, expanding access to capital while establishing the foundation needed to support significantly higher loan volume.
The impact was immediate. “This bold change was really a game changer for A4CB in the world of small business finance,” as Mary put it. As volume scaled, the question became whether the servicing model could scale with it.
As loan volume increased and the borrower pool expanded, the limits of the existing model became clear. A4CB had pulled all the correct levers and built the foundation for growth, but the servicing and operations structure behind it hadn't kept pace.
Onboarding remained manual, and at nearly 100 loans a month, that created exactly the kind of errors a mission-driven lender couldn't afford. Challenges extended beyond onboarding. Repayment management was inconsistent, and collections lacked the depth needed to support the loan products the organization was building toward.
What had once been manageable quickly became a bottleneck. Processes slowed. Risk increased. And the gap between where the organization was headed and what its servicing model could support became harder to ignore.
Mary put it simply: "We realized we had outgrown our servicer."
Recognizing they had outgrown their servicer, A4CB moved quickly, but not hastily. They entered the search with a clear understanding of what the next partner needed to deliver.
Before issuing a formal RFP, the non-negotiables were already defined:
“The biggest thing was the adaptation to our needs, automation, and strong quality control,” Mary noted.
With those criteria in place, A4CB surveyed peer CDFIs, consulted banking partners, and issued RFPs. A consistent theme emerged: a provider that addressed only part of the problem would not be sufficient.
The organization needed a partner that could grow alongside them and remain aligned with the mission they serve.
We needed a partner who could move quickly and evolve with us." — Mary Tritsis, Chief Lending and Credit Officer at Allies for Community Business
Those requirements narrowed the field and clarified what the right partnership needed to look like in practice. Throughout the entire process, one organization consistently met that standard.
For Mary, one factor separated Concord from every other servicer they evaluated. “What really stood out was access to the senior executive team at Concord. They were truly open to the customization that we were looking for,” she said.
That early access to decision-makers shaped everything that followed. Rather than offering a fixed solution, the team took the time to understand A4CB’s needs and built a servicing model aligned to how the organization needed to operate.
“They did not offer a one-size-fits-all solution, and that was probably the biggest eye-opener,” Mary noted.
For A4CB, that meant integrating directly into their existing systems rather than replacing them. The centerpiece was a direct API connection between the loan operating system and Concord’s platform, creating what Mary described as a “method to retain the integrity of our loan origination data as we moved that data between systems.”
From there, the capabilities the organization had been missing began to take shape:
“They worked with us to help build what we needed,” Mary said. The result was a servicing model designed to support sustained, scalable growth.
From implementation through today, the partnership between A4CB and Concord has been defined by continuous iteration.
In the early stages, both teams met weekly to navigate the conversion process, refine workflows, and ensure alignment across operations. As systems and workflows stabilized, that cadence shifted to monthly check-ins, maintaining oversight while allowing the model to scale. With that foundation in place, the focus moved from implementation to ongoing refinement.
What that foundation produced over the following two and a half years is difficult to overstate. Reflecting on the collaboration, Mary noted: “We have accomplished close to 80 enhancements, which really speaks volumes to the amount of work that Concord has helped us to tailor and evolve our processes.”
Those nearly 80 enhancements were deliberate improvements built in response to the organization’s evolving needs. Each reflects a level of sustained collaboration that comes from a partner aligned with both the operating model and the broader mission.
The result was a servicing model that improved over time without disruption.
“Concord really became an extension of our infrastructure, improving efficiencies truly without disrupting our internal workflows.” — Mary Tritsis, Chief Lending and Credit Officer at Allies for Community Business
300%. That is how much A4CB’s loan volume grew during its partnership with Concord. The lending and accounting teams added no new staff, while the capital operations function grew by just one person.
“Having Concord as our servicer has allowed us to scale 300% in loan volume. We have not added any staff to lending or accounting.” — Mary Tritsis, Chief Lending and Credit Officer at Allies for Community Business
For a nonprofit microlender, those numbers reflect more than portfolio growth. They reflect a deliberate approach to how that growth was achieved. A4CB reworked how servicing, systems, and processes fit together before the volume arrived, and partnered with a team capable of supporting them as they scaled.
That foundation allowed the organization to handle significantly higher volume without adding operational strain. Automation replaced manual processes, systems remained connected, and complexity was managed within the servicing model rather than pushed back onto the team.
As Mary noted, “The level of growth with our operational efficiencies has really been the greatest game changer.”
Scaling loan volume by 300% without expanding the team is one measure of success. But for A4CB, what mattered more was what that efficiency made possible.
As Mary put it, “Our team has been allowed to stay focused on what we do best, getting capital into the hands of entrepreneurs without being weighed down by growing operational complexities.”
That shift translated directly into greater reach. With fewer operational constraints, the organization was able to serve more businesses and expand their presence in the communities they support.
“It means we could serve more businesses; we could create more opportunities and deepen our impact in the communities we really care about,” Mary said.
Performance improved alongside that growth. Enhanced collections processes reduced delinquencies and charge-offs while maintaining a borrower-sensitive approach.
As Mary noted, “The advanced collection and the proactive collection teams have contributed to a meaningful reduction in our delinquencies and our charge-offs, while at the same time, they understand our borrowers’ needs.”
For a CDFI whose mission centers on the financial well-being of underserved entrepreneurs, that balance matters. Stronger portfolio performance and borrower-sensitive collections aren't competing priorities. With the right partner, they complement each other. For A4CB, that has helped generate more wealth and jobs in communities that need them most.
The best servicing partnerships don't only solve the problems in front of them. They anticipate what comes next.
For A4CB and Concord, that forward-thinking approach has defined the relationship from the start. Nearly 80 enhancements in, the collaboration shows no signs of slowing down. A two-way API between Concord and A4CB’s LOS is currently in development, a project that will further streamline data flow and enhance real-time decision-making across the organization.
For Mary, that continued investment is exactly what she expected from Concord and exactly what she got.
"It's not the status quo with Concord. They understand our challenges and our needs, and they've been able to help us navigate through those challenges." — Mary Tritsis, Chief Lending and Credit Officer at Allies for Community Business
Anticipating needs rather than simply responding to them is what has made the partnership sustainable over time. As Mary put it, "They don't just respond to our needs, but they help us think ahead and help us grow."
"We're excited to continue the path forward with Concord for years to come,” Mary said.
For mission-driven lenders, every operational dollar matters. Concord builds servicing systems that scales with your portfolio so your team can stay focused on the work that matters most.
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