The U.S Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that it will transfer $18.1 million to Ohio to help small business lending to companies and small business entrepreneurs. These funds will provide Ohio small business owners the available resources to help create jobs thus improving the Ohio economy.
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Ohio offers more money for small business loans, using once-controversial funds
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio just got more than $18 million to loan to small businesses, which officials say should seed $180 million in private loans from banks.
The $18.17 million is being transferred from the U.S. Treasury Department to Ohio’s Development Services Agency, which will work with businesses and bankers to expand or start small companies that are deemed credit-worthy and promising but need help meeting collateral or other underwriting standards.
In some cases, this is because the value of their inventories or real estate declined during the economic downturn, creating a shortfall between their collateral and their financing needs. Bank rules require them to have more money on hand or more value before a loan can be issued.
The federal money, through the state’s Collateral Enhancement Program, can help make that up. It also will help businesses through related programs: the Ohio Capital Access Program and the Targeted Investment Program. The state previously received $12.4 million for these programs and stands to get $24.5 million more once the new amount is put to use, according to Treasury Department figures.
Fed transfers $18M to Ohio small business lending program
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday announced the transfer of more than $18.1 million to Ohio to support the state’s small business lending program.
Through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, the funds will support Ohio’s Collateral Enhancement Program, Ohio Capital Access Program and Targeted Investment Program.
Officials said Ohio will use the funds to leverage greater levels of private lending and investing in small businesses located in the state, often by partnering with local community banks.
“Ohio continues to leverage federal State Small Business Credit Initiative funds to attract new loans and investments to the state’s small businesses,” said Cliff Kellogg, director of the State Small Business Credit Initiative, in a statement.
“These funds are intended to continue the state’s partnership with local entrepreneurs and small business owners to provide new sources of capital, help create jobs, and improve the economy,” he said.
Playhouse Square seeks to fill empty retail spaces through small-business grant contest
New signs, including archways like the one pictured here, have popped up in downtown Cleveland’s Playhouse Square district during the past few weeks. As the theater district finishes a $16 million transformation of its public spaces, the Charter One Foundation and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance are running a grant contest to revive empty storefronts on East 14th Street and Euclid Avenue. (Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)
Small businesses seeking space in downtown Cleveland’s theater district will have a shot at $1,500 to $20,000 in grant funding through a program that has helped fill other empty storefronts in the city.
The Charter One Foundation and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance announced Monday that they’ve teamed up with Playhouse Square to launch a grant competition that ends May 16. The money, $20,000 in all, could help a handful of businesses or a single entrepreneur cover start-up costs such as rent, equipment and fixtures.
Playhouse Square is targeting the Hanna Building, the Hanna Building Annex and the Keith Building — two office buildings and a residential redevelopment where the upper floors are largely full but some street-level retail spaces sit vacant. The empty storefronts, on Euclid Avenue and East 14th Street, range from 420 square feet to 3,257 square feet.
