MARBIDCO 2018 Annual Report Features
Referring Lender Profile: Lisa Cunningham, MidAtlantic Farm Credit
Loan officers are a critical partner to MARBIDCO, helping prospective borrowers benefit from our programs. One loan officer is Lisa Cunningham, who works with various types of farmers in Dorchester, Talbot and Caroline Counties to get access to commercial and financial assistance.
“My goal is to help the agriculture community gain access to the financing they need for their farming operations,” said Lisa. “I enjoy helping beginning farmers and educating them on programs like MARBIDCO. There are less farmers in our nation , so young and beginning farmers are important to today’s Agriculture Industry. It’s hard to get started and I want to help make the process be easier.”
Lisa attended West Virginia University, where she initially planned on becoming an agricultural educator. However, she realized teaching was not for her, and instead became an agricultural business major with a minor in horticulture. This led her to joining MidAtlantic Farm Credit after graduation and becoming a loan officer. Cunningham learned about MARBIDCO and our programs when starting at Farm Credit several years ago. More recently, she gave a presentation about the Next Gen Program that MARBIDCO offers, providing insight and information from a lenders perspective.
“In my point of view, one of the biggest benefits of the Next Gen Program is it provides equity needed to purchase a farm,” said Lisa. “In general, 20% of the purchase price is needed to put down when seeking a loan, for a farm or property purchase and that can be a lot of money. That’s one benefit the MARBIDCO Next Gen program gives to young and beginning farmers and since it is a grant program it’s not considered a loan so their debt load decreases and they have a higher chance of profitability.”
Lisa grew up surrounded by agriculture, raised on her family farm in northern Talbot County. They have a greenhouse operation that focuses on growing vegetable transplants for six weeks before shipping them to farmers along the East Coast. Lisa was an active member of 4-H and FFA. In 2008, she was crowned Ms. Talbot County Farm Bureau, and later Ms. Maryland Farm Bureau.
“That taught me a lot,” she said about being Ms. Maryland Farm Bureau. “It opened my eyes to the diversity of agriculture in Maryland and the importance of sustaining that diversity for generations to come, which MARBIDCO is a big part of.”
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