Adrian Ruddock joined the executive team at the Metropolitan Economic Development Association as vice president of lending last month.
Coming from a position as principal at a small, private funding and consulting firm, Ruddock will now help the nonprofit develop and drive their strategy and mission of helping BIPOC entrepreneurs by maintaining relationships, evaluating loan applications, ensuring conformity with lending policies and procedure and more.
Rudduck came to Meda with more than 15 years of experience in various finance and lending services from Clover Phoenix Capital, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation and LISC.
“We are thrilled to add Adrian’s leadership and expertise in creative, responsive small business lending to Meda’s team,” Dorothy Bridges, CEO and president at Meda, said in a statement. “His influence will help elevate Meda as we move into our next chapter of growth as we continue to provide excellent service to our client base and the broader BIPOC business community.”
Ruddock said that because “BIPOC entrepreneurs have had challenges getting loans to purchase equipment, add new employees and secure the real estate that occupy their businesses,” he is “humbled and excited that (he) can use Meda’s resources to help these entrepreneurs get access to funding.”
