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President & CEO, Northeast Entrepreneur Fund
Mary Mathews is the founding president of the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund (NEF), a community development financial institution serving emerging and small businesses in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. Since 1989, NEF has helped start, stabilize or expand more than 1100 businesses; helped create or retain over 3,000 jobs; provided over $10 million in loans to over 450 businesses; and served 10,000 people through its training, consulting and lending programs. From offices in Virginia, Grand Rapids, Duluth and Superior, NEF serves 11 counties covering a 30,000-square-mile area. Mary founded an affiliated organization, the Greenstone Group, to foster a culture of entrepreneurship. It provides entrepreneurs with business performance coaching, access to professional services, and entrepreneurship programs. She is a consultant to organizations across the country that are learning from Greenstone Group’s experience in developing entrepreneurial talent. Mary is chair of the board of directors of the Opportunity Finance Network, a national network of 170 high-performing community development financial institutions. Mary is a past board member and chair of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, a national microenterprise development association. A member of the Arrowhead Growth Alliance, Mary has over 25 years experience in economic development and is a former business owner.
Nationally recognized by President Clinton, NEF received the 1998 Presidential Microenterprise Award for Excellence in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills. Mary received the Small Business Administration’s 2002 Upper Midwest Region Financial Services Advocate Award and the 2000 David A. Martin Entrepreneurial Leadership Award. She is a graduate of Iowa State University and lives in Duluth.
