About Us

The Experience Behind the CEED Program

The CEED Program began as a product of The CEED Development Company (TCDC), a for-profit, business development, training and funding corporation. TCDC was founded by a small group of entrepreneurs who collectively have more than 50 years experience in founding and running small to medium-sized businesses. Its original objective was to establish the business structures to make the CEED Program work both nationally and locally.

The capital portion of the CEED Program was likewise developed as a for-profit enterprise. However, once we began to develop the credit portion of the program, we realized that the credit operations would be better served under a non-profit umbrella. And once we started down that path and looked back on the other parts of the CEED Program, it was clear that a non-profit structure was the best way forward.

The business structures for both the capital and credit portions of the program were therefore made wholly owned subsidiaries under a non-profit organization. We call that organization The CEED Program, the name most associated with our activities.

At the same time, the majority of the outstanding TCDC stock was donated to the non-profit, making TCDC majority-owned by the non-profit. Thus two out of three of the primary companies that represent the three key elements of the CEED Program are wholly owned and the third one is majority owned by a non-profit company.

The program has been structured to leave room for other organizations to bring their skills and resources to complement those being provided by the CEED Program group of companies. The below diagram illustrates how the pieces fit.

The Three Divisions

The CEED Development Company (TCDC) directs, coordinates and supports the creation of CEED companies nationwide, and manages the business and technical development aspects of the enterprise.

The CEED Venture Group (CVG) is the private equity management firm responsibile for overseeing the capital program. That includes raising the institutional funds required to support the program and to oversee the establishment of the local CEED Community Funds and their subsequent rollup into public companies.

CalGreen Bank is responsible for establishing the nationwide credit program that supports the CEED Program and its participants.