View as Webpage

Your tax deductible donations will strengthen our local economy.

Summer 2026

We are a lender, but finance is one part of what we do. Before a loan application is submitted, you’ll find us across the table, working through the details together. We’ll ask questions you may not have thought about. And we’re with you through the application process and we’ll be there to shake hands when the check comes.

This newsletter focuses on the technical assistance and training we offer. It’s one of my favorite topics, because knowledge is what turns ambition into a plan, and a plan into a thriving business.

You'll read about Jennifer and Jeremy McEntyre and their business, Bayside Athletics. They leaned heavily on TAC's technical assistance to manage the complications of securing funding for their business. The U.S. Small Business Administration recently named Jennifer Delaware’s Small Business Person of the Year, and we’re proud we played a small role. The Bayside Athletics story isn't the exception, it's what we work toward with every business owner we serve.

True Access Capital exists to move Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey businesses forward, especially in communities that have historically had fewer doors open to them. We work with entrepreneurs at every stage, from startup to successful growth. Through seminars, one-on-one counseling, mentoring, self-led training, loan support, the help you need is here, under one roof, designed to get you where you want to go.



Uncertainty is one of the biggest things that keeps businesses from growing. Uncertainty makes you question the next step, the right move, and the process. TAC can replace that uncertainty with knowledge, confidence, and a clear path forward. Whatever stage your business is in right now, there is a next level. And we'd like to help you get there.

Sincerely,

Van

Something big is coming to Wilmington this fall, and if you have ever had a business idea that a bank laughed at, this one is for you.

On October 7th, True Access Capital will host Capital Connect 2026, a regional conference designed for business owners and entrepreneurs who are ready to grow but need to figure out how to fund that growth. The event runs from 9 am to 4 pm, breakfast and lunch are included, and there is even a VIP reception afterward for people who want to keep the conversation going.

Capital Connect 2026 is where small businesses and entrepreneurs from Greater Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware stop guessing and start gaining traction. It is your direct connection to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), banks, and other lenders who invest in businesses across the region.

This is not a stuffy conference with people in suits talking over our heads. Think of it as a room full of people who understand your situation, because many of them have been exactly where you are.

The day includes four breakout sessions covering everything from how to seek your first round of capital, growing a business that is already moving, community development finance, and commercial real estate. A lunch panel brings together entrepreneurs talking openly about how they used capital to build something they dreamed about.

Vandell Hampton, Jr., President and CEO of True Access Capital, put it simply: "We are done waiting for the system to open the door. We built our own door, and on October 7th we are holding it wide open. Come on in."

Tickets go on sale June 15 and are priced at $110 for the full conference day. If you want to stay for the evening reception and dinner, that is an additional $150.



Mark the date. Tell your people. Capital Connect is the kind of event you will wish you had found years ago.

Jennifer McEntyre spent years coaching other people's kids in other people's gyms. She was good at it, but the goal was always something bigger. "Long term, I didn't want to just be a coach," she says. "I'd rather run my own gym and do things the way I want to do them."

Jennifer McEntyre

President & CEO, Bayside Athletics

She and her husband Jeremy studied the market. Dover had a gym. Smyrna had one. Milford, a fast-growing town, did not. The gap was obvious; the path to filling it was anything but obvious. “I didn’t even know how to start the process,” Jennifer said. “I wished there was an instruction manual.”

In November 2021, Bayside Athletics opened in a rental space with low ceilings, an awkward layout, and a crowded parking lot. Jennifer made it work. The community showed up immediately. And within months, it was clear the space couldn't accommodate what the business was becoming.

That's when Jennifer connected with True Access Capital and Sharon Louth, a TAC business coach whose background in construction was exactly what this project needed. "We were partners through this whole process," Jennifer says.

The work wasn't glamorous: monthly meetings, a business plan, tax returns, profit and loss statements, cash flow projections. Sharon made sure Jennifer knew what was coming: the costly surprises that catch first-time builders off guard. A required sprinkler system added $100,000 to the project, impact fees for water and sewer added some $68,000. "I never even heard of those fees," Jennifer admitted.

By 2023, Jennifer had purchased land for the new facility, and through the SBA 504 Program, True Access helped the McEntyres secure financing for the $2.4 million construction project.

The 504 Loan Program offers reduced equity requirements and long-term repayment terms designed for owner-operators rather than investors. These loans are typically structured as a partnership among a third-party lender (most often a bank), a Certified Development Company (CDC), acting on behalf of the SBA, and an equity contribution from the small business.

One factor that gave both the bank and SBA added confidence: Jennifer and Jeremy could cover their personal expenses without drawing from the business. "We could live off his salary and not draw a dime from the business," she said. That kind of financial cushion isn't luck — it's the result of planning and is the kind of detail that a good technical assistance engagement surfaces for the loan application.

The new facility will serve roughly 700 students across four sports, with about nine core staff, plus part-timers. A jujitsu lead and a full-time administrator are already in the plan as enrollment scales. Jennifer is intentional about who she hires. "You can train a warm, energetic college student to coach preschool gymnastics," she says. "But you can't just teach somebody the basics of jujitsu."

That same clarity — knowing what you need, understanding the process, and having someone help you prepare for what you don't know — is what True Access brings to entrepreneurs who are ready to take the next step.

The instruction manual Jennifer wished had existed turned out to be a team: technical assistance, financing expertise, and a federal program designed to make owner-occupied projects possible.



Bayside Athletics will soon open their new location in Milford. And True Access was there for every step it took to get there.

Called TalentLMS, it provides access to more than 1,000 courses, 100 in Spanish, covering marketing, finance, sales, leadership, customer service, networking, and entrepreneurship, among others. Each course is $15. That's it. No subscription, no commitment, no complicated pricing.

The whole point is flexibility. You log in when you have time and pick up right where you left off. There are no deadlines or rigid schedules, and no pressure to keep pace with a group. Once you purchase a course, you have lifetime access to the materials.

The platform tracks your progress as you go, so you always know where you stand. And because it's fully self-directed, you choose what to learn based on what your business needs at any given point.

Click below to get started!

True Access Capital is the most successful Community Development Financial Institution, serving all of Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. Our mission is building a thriving community by empowering a diverse base of entrepreneurs and businesses through access to capital, education, advocacy and opportunity. Through our various lending programs, we have empowered countless individuals to begin and sustain successful businesses, which have in turn contributed to the revitalization of communities throughout our service area.