In this episode of the Capital Insight Podcast, hosts Jenny and Michelle chat with Rebecca Busansky, Senior Program Manager at Franklin County Community Development Corporation, about her role in supporting local investing in farms and agricultural businesses in Western Massachusetts.

The PVGrows Investment Fund pools investments from community residents and supportive institutions to provide low-cost loans to farmers and food entrepreneurs in the Pioneer Valley.

In this podcast episode, Rebecca shares how the PVGrows Investment Fund is democratizing impact investing in regenerative agriculture.

Since the fund’s launch in 2015, it has raised over 2.2 million dollars, helping finance 55 farms and food system entrepreneurs with zero defaults. Listen to the episode to learn more.

Rebecca Busansky is a Senior Program Manager at the Franklin County Community Development Corporation where she manages the PVGrows Investment Fund (PVGIF) and Mass Food Trust Program (MFTP). PVGIF provides financing and technical assistance to farmers and local food entrepreneurs through community investments. MFTP provides healthy food financing to underserved communities. Rebecca joined the Franklin County Community Development Corporation team in 2015 to launch PVGIF, with a focus on developing and maintaining relationships with local food system entrepreneurs, community investors, and collaborators. Rebecca has an undergraduate degree from Brown University in American Civilization and has worked in the community economic development field for more than 25 years.

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The Capital Insight podcast intro and outro is voiced by Marina Verlaine. She can be contacted at reel.peach.vo@gmail.com