In 1988, Joliet Junior College (JJC) initiated a Set-Aside Loan Pool, designed to provide entrepreneurs, who traditionally would not be able to obtain a small business loan because of a lack of equity, with an alternate source of funding. Ten financial institutions were contacted and asked for contributions to the Loan Pool. Over the next five months, follow-up contracts were made to encourage participation and address bankers' reservations about making the contribution as a grant rather than a loan. Other obstacles concerned the size of the requested donation and the fact that monies received from a bank might not be loaned to an entrepreneur from that bank's geographical area. During the first year of the project: (1) the Loan Pool was established and institutionalized through a $5,000 contribution from one local financial institution; (2) the application process and materials were developed and field tested; (3) announcements of ion of the project were publicized; (4) mechanisms for new and expanded partnerships with local financial institutions were developed; (5) a service incubator for entrepreneurs was established; and (6) one round of loan reviews was conducted, though no loans were issued. Full implementation of the program will take place in 1990. Attached is a formal prospectus on the Loan Pool and a description of JJC's Institute of Economic Technology, the administrative department within the college that is responsible for all JJC's economic development activities and that combines its six separate centers for economic related services into one umbrella operation. (AYC)