Posted on Tuesday, March 1, 2016

PARTNERSHIP TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES

TOLEDO, Ohio, March 1, 2016 – Paul Toth, President and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, and Steve Fireman, the Economic and Community Development Institute’s (ECDI) President and General Counsel, announce today a partnership to continue to provide access to small business loans to qualified microenterprises and entrepreneurs in Lucas County and the Greater Toledo area. The Microenterprise Development Initiative is designed to provide access to capital and technical assistance to start-up and existing ventures finding it difficult to obtain traditional financing. The Port Authority will be the point of access and ECDI the lending partner. ECDI has over 40 loan funds and will provide loans from $500 to $350,000 to qualified small businesses. It will also provide technical assistance throughout the life of a loan, up to five years of assistance.

“The Port Authority is very excited to announce that the ECDI microlending program will continue to provide financial assistance to northwest Ohio small business owners and entrepreneurs,” said Paul Toth. “Studies have shown that as much as 80 percent of new jobs are added by existing business expansion and local entrepreneurs starting new business ventures, so it’s imperative that we keep these types of programs available to Toledo area residents.”

To-date, ECDI had provided $662,675 in critical loans to a broad host of small enterprises throughout the Toledo area:

• 27 loans to 19 businesses
  • 26 percent of businesses are owned by low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs
  • 42 percent of businesses are minority-owned
  • 58 percentof businesses are female-owned
• 75.5 jobs have been created as a result of these loans

“Launching this initiative is what makes sense for the Toledo market, and will allow us to continue to meet the needs of local entrepreneurs. Conclusions from a three year pilot in the Toledo market suggested this service model is what is needed, and the Port Authority, our longstanding partner, is committed to its implementation and success. This solid partnership and the expertise shared between our organizations will advance business and job creation, and continue to create entrepreneurial opportunity in the Toledo market,” said Steve Fireman.

The Economic and Community Development Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit economic development organization certified to provide services in all 88 counties of Ohio. It is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with satellite offices in Cleveland, Akron and Toledo. ECDI provides innovative microenterprise capitalization programs and development training, business incubation services, financial literacy training and other programs and services geared to create businesses and jobs, increase access to assets, and spur local economic development. ECDI is a U.S. Treasury Department certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and is the third largest U.S. Small Business Administration intermediary microlender in the country. Since inception in 2004, ECDI has invested over $29 million through 1,400 small business loans, and created and retained over 5,100 jobs.

The program’s loan capital will be sourced across a number of various funding sources available to ECDI, including SBA micro-loan funds, bank funds, and civic/philanthropic grant funds. Dollars are leveraged and risk in any individual loan is shared among multiple funding sources. ECDI’s liaison for the Toledo market will be Gregory Zucca, Vice President of Lending.

For more information on ECDI, please visit www.ecdi.org.

It is the mission of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority to continuously focus on job creation by leveraging our strategic geographic position, resources and economic development proficiency to provide increased business opportunities—built upon and around our innovative transportation and logistics expertise—while promoting our community and region within the global marketplace. We will accomplish this through unmatched speed and efficiency of service, collaborative and strategic partnerships, community stewardship and the continued generation and execution of new ideas and innovations. www.toledoport.org – 419.243.8251