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Archive for the ‘Small Business Lending’ Category

The City of Seattle’s Commitment to Job Creation Remains As Strong As Ever

Monday, August 30th, 2010

NDC’s Grow America Fund Cited as an Example

In an interview with Puget Sound Business Journal writer Kelly Gilblom, the acting director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, Stephen Johnson, discussed the City’s efforts to boost its businesses, and the jobs they provide, through readily-available financing. He named the Grow Seattle-King County Fund, administered by NDC’s Grow America Fund (GAF), as one of the City’s initiatives to achieve that goal.

Established in 2009, the Grow Seattle-King County Fund was established with a $2 million joint investment by the Seattle Foundation, the City of Seattle, King County and GAF. Alpha Cine, a motion picture film processing company, was the first Seattle business to tap into the fund, using a unique financing structure to acquire and renovate a new space ideally suited to meet the business’s needs.

Read the Puget Sound Business Journal article.

CDFI Fund Awards $750,000 to NDC’s Grow America Fund

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Part of $104.9 Million Awarded to Local Financial Institutions Across the Nation Serving Struggling Communities

NDC’s small business loan program,  the Grow America Fund (GAF), has received an award from U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) as part of its program to assist financial institutions serving struggling communities.  Recognizing GAF as a financial institution that plays ” a critical role financing small businesses and providing access to capital where it is needed most,” CDFI has awarded $750,000 to GAF that GAF President Pat Thomson said will be used in its nationwide lending program to increase capital for small businesses located in low-income communities.  Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios noted that, “The awards we are announcing today will provide critical support to local financial institutions, which are on the front lines creating jobs and economic opportunity in communities across the country.” 

Read the full press release here.

The Citi Foundation Brings NDC Training to California

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
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In the classroom at the Citi-sponsored ED201 - Business Credit Analysis course in Glendale, CA.

With generous support from the Citi Foundation, the state of California will be home to over 60 new certified Economic Development Finance Professionals in 2010. Concurrent EDFP Certification Programs are now underway in Los Angeles and San Francisco and will conclude in late 2010.  Citi’s investment in California’s economic development practitioners and the communities they serve is already paying off in a new revolving loan fund in Morgan Hill. Established through NDC’s Grow America Fund, the Grow Morgan Hill Fund will support Morgan Hill’s small businesses to the tune of over $2 million. We are pleased to partner with Citi and the Citi Foundation to make this training available in California and to see training attendees already making a difference in the communities where they live and work.

Just What the Doctors Ordered

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

NDC’s GAF Delivers for Two Physicians with Healthy and Growing Private Practices

Pediatrician Robyn Cadet MD (center) in the waiting room of her new practice, Child Life Pediatrics, PC, with some of her patients.

Pediatrician Robyn Cadet MD (center) at her new practice, Child Life Pediatrics, PC.

Pediatrician Robyn Cadet, MD and Podiatrist Neal Marks, DPM, with practices located in Nassau County, Long Island, NY and Cleveland, OH, respectively, are miles apart in location and specialty but shared a common need: financing to help them expand their busy medical practices.  And with help from NDC’s Grow America Fund (GAF), they are both well on their way to accomplishing just that.

Dr. Marks started his comprehensive foot care practice over 17 years ago on Cleveland’s West Side. His practice expanded to include two additional full-time doctors,  two additional full-time and two part-time staff people, and a second location across town- an expansion funded by a GAF loan through the Grow Cuyahoga County Fund.  (more…)

Morgan Hill, CA + NDC = Small Business Investment

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

The Morgan Hill, CA Redevelopment Agency (RDA) has joined forces with NDC to bring much-needed credit to Morgan Hill’s small businesses.  The RDA kicked off the new partnership with a $500,000 investment to create the Grow Morgan Hill Fund, which will be administered by NDC’s Grow America Fund (GAF).  In addition to this program, which is expected to provide over $2 million in credit to Morgan Hill’s small businesses through GAF”s SBA-guaranteed loans, NDC will be providing its signature development assistance services to support the community’s economic development goals.

Read the complete story at the Morgan Hill Times.

The Grow Tacoma Fund Gets Down to Business

Monday, June 21st, 2010
The Grow Tacoma Fund helped Stadium Thriftway finance a building expansion and new machinery and equipment.

The Grow Tacoma Fund helped Stadium Thriftway finance a building expansion and new machinery and equipment.

The Grow Tacoma Fund, a small business revolving loan fund administered by NDC’s Grow America Fund and seeded with a $2.0 million investment from the City, has to date made 31 loans, financed $13 million in project costs (leveraging the City’s investment six times over) and retained or created 497 jobs.

Stadium Thriftway, the only independent grocery serving downtown Tacoma, accessed Grow Tacoma Fund dollars to finance a building expansion and new machinery and equipment. Stadium Thriftway added 30 new employees to its existing staff of 60 and was able to maintain its niche in Tacoma’s urban core as a purveyor of high quality foods with excellent selection and service, including weekly deliveries to local elderly residents.

GAF Borrower is Animatronics Innovator

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Garner Holt with one of his creations.

Garner Holt with his Yeti.

San Bernardino, CA - After two years of research and development on a project that would take his company and with it, the animatronics industry, to a new level, Garner Holt, president of Garner Holt Productions (GHP) in San Bernardino, California, was ready for a working capital loan. He approached the City of San Bernardino for financing.  

Since 1999, the City of San Bernardino (where NDC has provided technical assistance since 1986) has been a participant in NDC’s Grow America Fund (GAF) through its Grow San Bernardino Fund, and Holt was referred to NDC Field Director Scott Rodde for his loan.  (more…)

NDC and Cuyahoga County, OH

Monday, April 26th, 2010
The Baker Building in Cleveland, OH.

The Baker Building in Cleveland, OH financed with New Markets Tax Credits.

NDC’s work with client community Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has brought a wide range of NDC’s signature services to the area, including the City of Cleveland and the surrounding suburban communities, beginning with the evaluation and negotiation of  requests for development assistance - especially where the projects involve multiple public and private funding sources.

One of the County’s primary objectives in creating a partnership with NDC is to increase the knowledge and capacity of economic development professionals throughout the region, including its own staff. NDC’s Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) Certification is mandatory for all County community development personnel, ensuring a strong foundation for screening development proposals and for focusing NDC development assistance where it’s needed most. In the case of real estate development projects, NDC training supports staff in recognizing critical project cost and operating pro forma issues. With NDC on-site development assistance, these issues are distilled into questions and recommendations that help the developer improve the bankability of his or her project and reduce the need for the County’s limited gap financing resources. (more…)

Lancaster, PA: A Relationship Renewed

Monday, April 26th, 2010
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The Historic East Side Suites in the heart of downtown Lancaster will undergo a $9.2 million transformation into a mixed-use development with help from NDC's Michelle Mooney and New Markets Tax Credit financing.

The Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership (LHOP) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania is NDC’s newest East Team client community.

NDC is no stranger to Lancaster, however.  “This is a renewed relationship, based on the results of earlier contracts with Lancaster County, including several loans to Lancaster small businesses from our Grow America Fund (GAF) and the Lancaster Arts Hotel New Markets Tax Credit project,” explains NDC Field Director Michelle Mooney.  Mooney will be working directly with Ray D’Agostino, LHOP Executive Director; Phyllis E. Stellfox, LHOP Project Development Manager; and Matthew T. Sternberg, Executive Director, Lancaster County Housing & Redevelopment Authorities (LCHRA).

“We are very excited to have the resources and experience of Michelle and all of NDC available to Lancaster County, our affordable housing development and preservation efforts, as well as supporting community redevelopment in our neighborhoods,” says Ed Kaminski, Director of Acquisitions and New Business for Lancaster’s Housing Development Corporation. “Michelle is already expanding our thinking beyond our standard array of financing tools.  We know that in addition to determination, we need to creatively use all available tools to be successful in today’s environment.” (more…)

GAF Borrower Honored by International Trade Center

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Ercole Owner Ornella Pisano Receives “Women Who Dare To Cross Boundaries” Award

At the awards ceremony: Ercole owner Ornella Pisano with Ruth J. Morrison, Executive Director of BIDTC

At the awards ceremony: Ercole owner Ornella Pisano with Ruth J. Morrison, Executive Director of BITDC

Brooklyn, NY - Ornella Pisano, founder and president of Ercole, Inc., an NDC Grow America Fund (GAF) borrower, was one of four business owners honored recently at the Historic Brooklyn Borough Hall by the Brooklyn International Trade Development Center (BITDC) in its inaugural “Women Who Dare to Cross Boundaries Awards.” 

“BITDC created this award to celebrate courageous women during Women’s History Month and to inspire other women to export their products or services to international markets,” said Ruth J. Morrison, BITC Executive Director.

Ercole (pronounced, air’-ko-lay) is a manufacturer of glass mosaic-inlaid furniture and décor, with showrooms in New York City, Miami Beach and Del Ray Beach, Florida.   Ornella Pisano is the president and creative genius behind Ercole, which she founded in New York in 1986.

Pisano became a GAF borrower in 2008, after finding conventional banks less amenable in her search for working capital for her manufacturing business, located on Jay Street in Brooklyn.  Then, she visited Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (SBIDC), which recommended GAF. “I called, and shortly afterwards received a visit from a GAF loan officer who was very enthusiastic.”

“GAF opened horizons for me,” exclaims Ornella, adding: “I’ve recommended GAF to other businesses looking for financing.”

Seattle Gets Some Green - Just in Time for Earth Day!

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

The City of Seattle has been awarded $20 million through the Department of Energy’s Retrofit Ramp-Up Initiative. The City will use the money to fund the Seattle Neighborhood Weatherize Every Building (WEB) Initiative to Power Change plan.  As part of this program, the City is adding over $200,000 in equity to its newly-created small business loan fund, the  Grow Seattle-King County Fund.  With the State of Washington’s recent $500,000 infusion, over $700,000 is now available to capitalize energy efficiency financing for small businesses in Seattle and King County.

These dollars add to the $1 million initial investment into the Grow Seattle-King County Fund made by the Seattle Foundation in July 2009.  Still in its infancy, the  Fund has made loans to three businesses to finance over $9 million in project costs, leveraging the initial investment 9:1 and retaining or creating 31 jobs.

Auburn Welcomes New Business “Home” to Auburn

Monday, April 12th, 2010
Photo courtesy of Sam Tenney / The Citizen

Photo courtesy of Sam Tenney / The Citizen.

Auburn, NY - - Talic, Inc., a manufacturer of storage and display systems for kayaks, canoes and rowing shells, celebrated the move of its operations to Auburn with a ribbon-cutting ceremony today, at their headquarters on 7 Bellnier Lane.  Owners Tim and Jeanne Tucker were joined in the celebration by Auburn Mayor Michael Quill, Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce President Andrew Fish, Robert Sweet of the Grow America Fund and other well-wishers. (more…)

Santa Cruz Puts Dollars - and People - to Work

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Through a partnership with NDC’s Grow America Fund (GAF), the City of Santa Cruz, CA has created the Grow Santa Cruz Fund to provide critically-needed funds to its small businesses.  Like all GAF loan funds, the Grow Santa Cruz Fund will leverage at least three times the City’s initial investment, making over $1 million available to support local businesses and job creation. Read local press coverage in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

Haiti: Help One of Our Own Help Others

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Grow America Fund’s Yvon Alexandre Organizing Relief Fund and Medical Mission March 8-13
Donate Now to Help Provide Critically-Needed Supplies

(Hartford, CT)  -  We’ve all been stunned by the initial and continuing accounts of the devastating earthquake that struck the island nation of Haiti and left more than 212,000 dead, and another 1 million homeless.

The staggering impact of the earthquake on his native homeland has moved Grow America Fund borrower Yvon Alexandre to take action. He has put his extraordinary entrepreneurial skills to work by organizing a response to the catastrophe, under the auspices of the Connecticut Haitian American Organization, Inc. (CHAO), a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization.

To date, CHAO has collected more than $29,000 and over 30,000 pounds of supplies for the earthquake survivors, including food, water, clothing, medicine and personal hygiene items.  But more is desperately needed. Now, Alexandre, through CHAO, is mounting a medical mission to Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, scheduled for March 8 through 13.  To date, Alexandre says CHAO has received commitments from 18-20 physicians, nurses and others who will pay $1,000 a piece to cover their own transportation and lodging in order to take part in the humanitarian effort.  Among the volunteers are a team of five prosthetics experts volunteering on behalf of The Pakistani American Association of Connecticut (PAACT). The team will be able to fit survivors, mostly children, with artificial limbs. 

Alexandre says additional funds are greatly needed to purchase and to ship much needed first aid items, pain relievers, and toiletries.  If you would like to donate to the CT Haitian American Organization, Inc.’s humanitarian efforts in Haiti, plese click here for information.

Donations can also be mailed to:
CT Haitian Earthquake Relief Fund
P.O. Box 290161
Wethersfield, CT 06129

For general comments and questions, please visit CHAO’s website or e-mail info@ctforhaiti.org.

(more…)

Brewington Breaks Ground

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Nassau County, NY - Ground was broken in Hempstead (Nassau County, Long Island), NY for the future home of the Law Office of Frederick K. Brewington.  The purchase and renovation of an existing building in Hempstead was financed with a $1.2 million loan from the Grow Nassau Fund, administered by NDC’s Grow America Fund.  The financing utilized a combination of Small Business Administration loan guarantee authority and the benefits of the New Markets Tax Credit provided by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Community Development Corporation.  (more…)

Setting Goals for New Cassel

Monday, February 1st, 2010

 

New Cassel residents developed the Vision Plan which has guided all new development.

New Cassel residents developed the Vision Plan which has guided all new development.

NDC Aids Development of the $60 Million New Cassel Vision Plan

Nassau County on New York’s Long Island has been an NDC client since 2002. A major component of the County’s development strategy is the redevelopment of New Cassel, a low-income community in the Town of North Hempstead that had not attracted private sector investment or development interest in recent years. (more…)

Stamping Success: Eagle Precision Products Cover Story

Monday, February 1st, 2010

North Royalton (Cuyahoga County), OH - Eagle Precision Products and its owner, Bruce Reger were the featured cover story in the November 2009 issue of Transmission Digest (TD). The story focused on Reger’s “philosophy of success” that guides his metal stamping business.  That philosophy boils down to one word: relationships. Okay, maybe two: relationships and trust. In the TD article, Bruce says: “I’ve discovered that if you don’t develop and maintain a relationship, you can’t keep the business.  As you develop a relationship with a customer, you try to help, because when they’re a winner, I’m a winner, too.”

 Eagle supplies parts to a wide variety of concerns, including the after-market auto industry, aerospace companies, plumbing and heating manufacturers, and oil and gas industries. Reger employs 12 in his 20,000 square foot plant.

Future Golden for Bolt Manufacturer Supplying Green Energy Industry

Monday, February 1st, 2010
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In January 2009 then President-elect Barack Obama paid a visit to Cardinal Fastener and joined in a celebration of the business's success.

Bedford Heights (Cuyahoga County), OH - For more than twenty-five years, Cardinal Fastener, the latest addition to NDC Grow America Fund’s (GAF) family of borrowers, has been proud to say that it has been keeping the country together, its bolts found in such iconic American structures as the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.

More recently, the Cleveland-area manufacturer of industrial “fasteners” has added a new industry to its customer base: the green energy industry, specifically manufacturers of power-generating windmills.  (more…)

President Obama Awards $2.3 Billion for New Clean-Tech Manufacturing Jobs

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Recovery Act Tax Credits to Enable More Than $7 Billion in New Manufacturing Projects and Create Tens of Thousands of Jobs

NDC Grow America Fund borrower Cardinal Fastener and Specialty Co. received a $480,000 tax credit from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a $2.3 billion award in Recovery Act Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States.

President Obama announced the award of $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States on January 8, 2010.   One hundred eighty three projects in 43 states will create tens of thousands of high quality clean energy jobs and the domestic manufacturing of advanced clean energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency and energy management technologies. 

As part of the Recovery Act, these tax credits are focused on putting Americans back to work by building a robust domestic manufacturing capacity to supply clean and renewable energy projects with American made parts and equipment.  These credits are also an important step towards meeting the President’s goal of doubling the amount of renewable energy the country uses in the next three years with wind turbines and solar panels built right here in the United States.  More at: http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8501.htm.

Cardinal Fastener will manufacture hot forged, critical fasteners used in wind turbines - transportation bolts, tower bolts, nacelle bolts, and blade studs.

Cardinal Fastener Makes Its TV Debut!

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Cardinal Fastener and Specialty Co., a Cleveland, Ohio manufacturing powerhouse produces high strength bolts for applications as diverse as the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, and, wind turbines. Cardinal Fastener caught the eye of television producers and will make its television debut on The Discovery Channel show “Factory Made” on Wednesday, January 13 at 12:30pm. 

NDC’s Grow America Fund is pleased to partner with Cardinal Fastener to provide financing to help it continue to grow and thrive in the decades to come.

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