The loan can be canceled after 15 years, if the location is still owned and used by the business. If the business sells the property or stops using it for the business between seven and 15 years after the loan closing date, it must repay half of the loan. If he sells the property or stops using it before the seventh anniversary of the closing date, he must repay the loan in full.

Baldeh said the program is another way to incent investment and business in Madison, like grants and development funding through additional tax funding.

“We give millions of dollars to developers,” Baldeh said. “It’s no different.”

Kaba Bah, who is black, is the owner of the Gooh Group, a company he says seeks to help communities while continuing to operate as a for-profit business.

The Gooh group hopes to build or buy a building on the East Side, near the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood, to operate a grocery store.

“As a businessman in Madison, my interest is not only to create wealth, but also to have an impact,” Bah said.

Bah said businesses like this in low-income communities can seem risky for banks, making it harder to get loans. Having access to city funds would help businesses like his have the cash flow to work with a bank.