Thank you very much.
Thank you for being here and adding to the great story of co-ops that we've been hearing. Certainly, just to follow up on what Mathieu was saying, financing has certainly been a key issue that's come up over the past three days. I think we've been trying to probe that a little bit because there is a difference of information depending on who is giving the information.
I'll just give you an example. Sometimes when we're talking with co-ops, we'll hear that start-up co-ops have difficulty accessing financing, which I believe to be true.
I also think, though, that small businesses face the same types of challenges. They're high risk. Access to capital is very much a challenge for them. They're in their infancy, really. I'm sure there are many small businesses that are just ready to launch but they can't get the capital funding.
We've had a number of financial institutions here, including the Bankers Association, the FCC, and a number of credit union and credit co-op types of financial institutions, too. I've been asking them this question consistently throughout our meetings, and the answer we've been receiving from them is that although co-ops have certain challenges, when it comes to applications for financing certainly, whether they're a co-op or a business isn't part of the lending institution's decision-making. It seems to be more about the specific type of risk analysis that a lending institution does. Whether you're a small business or a co-op, you will be evaluated based on what you're asking for and what you're offering. That is very much a factor and plays a role in whether they can access credit financing when they're in their infancy.
So I'm wondering if you could comment on that.
Vera, I don't know if you see the business side of that and if you can make that kind of comparison. Is that accurate, what we've been told by financial institutions, including co-ops?