As she browsed IKEA for desks, chairs and filing cabinets to furnish a co-working space she launched in Sharpsburg last year, Jessica Strong thought about charging the purchases on a credit card.

She wanted to keep her savings account flush with accessible cash for day-to-day operating costs and had zero credit to apply for a traditional business loan.

Then she saw a posting on social media about the Hebrew Free Loan Association and wondered if applicants for the association’s interest-free loans had to be Jewish.

So she contacted the Greenfield organization, learned its lending is nonsectarian, and soon had a $7,500 check in hand to spend on the office furniture…