Valleyan Creates Dining Loan Program

by Ima Phibber

No one is going to confuse the Strong River Valley (The Valley) with Silicon Valley; the two places couldn’t be more different. The Valley is not known as a hot bed of tech innovation. Heck, all of our residents don’t even have high speed internet. But, we do have some smart innovative people in The Valley, and Mark Elon Jobs is at the top of that list. Mark’s latest project is making waves, and it’s going to help many people in The Valley and around the country.

Jobs has always been interested in technology. When he was a kid, he would take computers apart and put them back together. He would even build computers from spare parts. He was known as a whiz kid. His company, Valley Tech Solutions, has created multiple apps and software programs, but nothing that has been used by the masses. However, that is likely to change with his new dining loan program- Di-Lo (short for dining loan).

Jobs still lives with his parents, and they eat out together once per week on Friday nights. He’s noticed that food inflation has caused their weekly restaurant bills to skyrocket. Jobs said, “It’s crazy how expensive eating out has gotten. I don’t see how a family of 4 or 5 affords to eat out now. It’s just gotten way out of hand. Also, they want you to tip for everything these days, so tip inflation has gotten crazy too. One Friday night while I was eating with Mom and Dad, I thought that I needed to do something to help people afford eating out.”

Jobs created a software program that he calls Di-Lo. Di-Lo provides microloans or microcredit to diners to help them pay for their meals. It’s a form of buy now, pay later for the restaurant industry. Diners can let their servers know they plan to use Di-Lo. They can choose to pay for the meal over 7 days or 14 days, and the interest rates are very competitive. Jobs has partnered with the local bank, The Peoples Priority Bank, to provide the loans. The restaurant, Valley Tech Solutions, and The Peoples Priority Bank each get a third of the revenue created from each loan, and the diner is able to afford a nice meal.

I talked to multiple Valleyans about Di-Lo, and they were excited about the program. One person said, “We’ll be able to afford to eat out now. Heck, I’ll get the steak instead of the burger now, and we’ll go get ice cream afterwards. The whole family can get a drink too; we all don’t have to get water!”

Jobs said, “I’ve always just wanted to help people with technology, and I think Di-Lo will definitely do that. Di-Lo is already in multiple restaurants in The Valley, and we hope to continue to grow in and outside The Valley.” Inflation has cooled recently, but there is still some food inflation. So, there should be a lot of demand for Di-Lo going forward.