County directory · Maine
CDFI lenders in Penobscot County, ME
2 are headquartered here. 1 more has a bank or credit-union branch here. Sources: lender websites (29 Oct 2026–4 Nov 2026), the CDFI Fund list (21 Oct 2026) and FDIC/NCUA branch records.
- Name this county
- 0
- Based here
- 2
- Branch here
- 1
- Serve all of ME
- 0
None of the lender websites we read names Penobscot County; the lenders below are based here, have an office here or serve the whole state. Lenders based elsewhere may lend here too. Search your exact ZIP code in the finder to include lenders based nearby. Towns in this county: Bangor, Bradford, Bradley, Brewer, Burlington, Carmel, Charleston, Corinna, Corinth, Dexter, Dixmont, East Millinocket….
Lenders compared for Penobscot County
3 with local records| Lender | Local records | Loan sizes | Head office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Acadia Federal Credit Union Credit union, Fort Ken ME | 3 offices here; 90 home loans here, 2025 | ask | 150 mi |
| 2. Four Directions Development Corporation Loan fund, Orono ME | headquarters here | ask | 14 mi |
| 3. MaineStream Finance Loan fund, Bangor ME | headquarters here | $500–$250,000 | 20 mi |
3 of these 3 lenders have received CDFI Fund awards, together $20.7M in fiscal years 2001–2025 (CDFI Fund award database; each lender page lists its awards). An award funds the lender, not a particular borrower.
Order: how many kinds of local record we hold (its website names the county or a town in it, headquarters, a branch, SBA loans or HMDA home loans for borrowers here), then the number of those records, then the head office's distance from the county centre. Loan sizes are the range the lender's website states. It is not a rating and nobody pays for a place. SBA loans: SBA 7(a)/504 data (FY2020–FY2026, 3 or more shown); home loans: HMDA 2025 originations (3 or more shown); branches: FDIC/NCUA; distances are straight lines from the average position of the county's ZIP codes.
Where these lenders have offices
3 lenders2 head offices and 3 branches or offices of 3 lenders on this page, within 80 miles of the centre of Penobscot County. Lenders with no office nearby may still lend here; many work by phone and online.
Head officeBranch or officeApproximate (ZIP code area)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, © OpenMapTiles, tiles OpenFreeMap. Head-office points: U.S. Census Bureau geocoder.
Loan types confirmed on these lenders' websites
- Home mortgages (2 lenders)
- Small-business loans (2 lenders)
- Home repair / improvement loans (1 lender)
- Affordable housing development loans (1 lender)
- Nonprofit / community facility loans (1 lender)
Banks and credit unions with a branch in this county
1 certified CDFI has at least one office in Penobscot County (NCUA branch data as of 30 Jun 2026). A branch shows presence, not a stated service area; credit unions also require membership.
CDFI mortgage lenders active here
Certified CDFIs reported 92 originated home loans for properties in Penobscot County in 2025 under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: 2.5% of the 3,699 home loans that all HMDA lenders reported here.
Plus 2 more certified CDFIs with fewer than 3 loans here each (not listed).
A lender headquartered far away can appear here: HMDA counts the county of the property, not of the lender. Banks and credit unions below the HMDA reporting thresholds and most loan funds do not report, so other CDFIs may also lend here.
Source: FFIEC Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for 2025, snapshot frozen 2 Jun 2026, loan-level records read through the CFPB HMDA Data Browser API on 3 Nov 2026. Originated loans only; applications that were denied, withdrawn or not accepted are not counted. HMDA publishes each loan amount as the middle of a $10,000 band, so totals and medians are approximate. Counts under 3 are not shown. How we match lenders.
Small business and SBA lending in Penobscot County
Official statisticsMedian household income in Penobscot County is $66,356, 11% below the Maine figure of $74,733 (ACS 2020–2024).
Businesses here took 46.7 SBA-backed loans per 1,000 employer businesses over FY2020–FY2026: more than the median Maine county (44.1), rank 7 of 16.
| Measure | Penobscot County | Maine |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses with paid employees (CBP 2023) | 4,222 (9.7% of the state) | 43,345 |
| …of which under 20 employees | 85% | 88% |
| Businesses without employees (Nonemployer Statistics 2023) | 10,633 | 127,173 |
| Median household income (ACS 2020–2024) | $66,356 (11% below the state) | $74,733 |
| SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals, all lenders, FY2020–FY2026 | 197 (181 7(a), 16 504) | 2,291 |
| …per 1,000 businesses with employees | 46.7 (rank 7 of 16 Maine counties) | 44.1 (median county) |
| Median SBA 7(a) loan, all lenders | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| …with a certified CDFI as lender, CDC or third-party lender | 1 or 2 | 15 (1%) |
| Variable-rate 7(a): median rate over prime at approval, FY2024–26 | 2.5 pts (49 loans; 2% at the SBA maximum) | 2.75 pts (7% at the maximum) |
Approvals by fiscal year: FY2020 31 · FY2021 31 · FY2022 17 · FY2023 32 · FY2024 33 · FY2025 25 · FY2026 28.
For comparison, not an offer. SBA figures count approvals by every SBA lender for borrowers whose ZIP code lies in the county, not only CDFIs; approval is not disbursement. Rate over prime = the SBA's recorded initial rate minus the prime rate on the approval day; SBA caps it at 3 to 6.5 points depending on loan size (current prime rate and caps: methodology).
Sources: Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 and American Community Survey 2020–2024 (table B19013); SBA 7(a) & 504 FOIA data as of 30 Sep 2026; prime rate: FRED DPRIME; SBA maximums: SBA 7(a) terms. Downloaded 15 Nov 2026. How we compute these.
CDFI lending recorded here (FY2022)
CDFI Fund data, released Dec 202455 loans and investments totaling $3M (median $12,000) were reported to the CDFI Fund for borrowers and projects in Penobscot County in fiscal year 2022, by 8 reporting CDFIs.
| Purpose (CDFI Fund category) | Count | Total | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | 36 | $1.8M | $6,846 |
| Non-real estate microenterprise | 8 | $183,999 | $22,500 |
| Non-real estate business | 5 | $345,000 | $70,000 |
| None of the listed purposes | 4 | $158,000 | $39,000 |
Of 32 individual borrowers whose income was reported, 72% had family income at or below 80% of the area median.
CDFI banks and credit unions also reported 111 consumer loans in Penobscot County totaling $568,890 (Consumer Loan Report, tract totals, so no median); they counted 17% of them as serving low-income borrowers.
Loans and investments reported in other years: FY2018 26 · FY2019 22 · FY2020 12 · FY2021 60.
Only CDFIs that hold an active CDFI Fund award (CDFI Program, Native American CDFI Assistance or the CDFI Rapid Response Program) report these transactions, so this is not all lending by the certified CDFIs on this page. The Fund masks which CDFI made each loan, so we cannot say which lender listed here made them.
Source: CDFI Fund, CDFI/NACA/CDFI RRP Program Award Recipient Data Release, Transaction Level Report and Consumer Loan Report public files for fiscal year 2022 (released Dec 2024; downloaded 3 Nov 2026). Amounts are original loan or investment amounts as reported. Place = the 2010 census tract of each record. How we count.
Headquartered in Penobscot County
The official list gives a headquarters address here. Check each lender's page for where it lends.
- Four Directions Development CorporationLoan fund · Orono, ME · Native CDFIHome repair / improvement loans, Affordable housing development loans, Home mortgages, Nonprofit / community facility loans…Verified
- MaineStream FinanceLoan fund · Bangor, MEHome mortgages, Small-business loansVerified
Free help before you apply
These offices give free or low-cost advice: a Small Business Development Center or SCORE mentor can help with the business plan, cash-flow projections and paperwork most business lenders ask for, and a HUD-approved housing counselor can help with a homebuyer course, a budget or a missed mortgage payment. Some counseling agencies also lend; using their advice does not commit you to their loans. Call ahead to check hours and what they cover.
Business advice
Housing counseling
- Four Directions Development CorporationHUD-approved housing counselor · 20 Godfrey Dr, Orono, ME 04473207-866-6545
- Penquis Community Action ProgramHUD-approved housing counselor · 262 Harlow St, Bangor, ME 04401207-973-3500
Sources: SBA local assistance listings, read 6 Nov 2026; HUD's list of approved housing counseling agencies (open-data version last updated 9 Apr 2025). For the current list and the services each agency offers, use the CFPB's housing counselor search (it uses HUD's list) or call HUD at 800-569-4287. Offices are placed by ZIP code, so distances are approximate.
Source: CDFI Atlas, cdfiatlas.com/states/me/counties/penobscot-county/. © 2026 CDFI Atlas. Quoting with a link is welcome; republishing the pages or the compiled data is not (terms of use).