$6 million coming to region for small business development
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HARRISBURG --- More than $6 million in federal funding will be going to Western Pennsylvania community development financial institutions to provide small-business loans, state officials announced this morning.
That funding, part of Pennsylvania's $29.2 million overall allocation to 12 organizations, is through the U.S. Department of Treasury's State Small Business Credit Initiative.
It will allow those organizations to make hundreds of loans and create more than 6,850 new jobs, said Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker.
"It's a very efficient way to move money through to the private sector," Mr. Walker said. "These people are extremely good at leveraging the money."
About $2 million of those dollars will go to Downtown-based Bridgeway Capital, which says those dollars will help it to provide 510 loans and create more than 2,000 jobs.
Kirstin Klingenberg, Bridgeway's general counsel and vice president of development, said that while the difficulties of accessing capital have lessened somewhat, she's surprised by the number of high-quality applications they receive that are unable to get full funding from banks.
"They still need that partner," she said of the entrepreneurs and expanding small businesses that seek assistance.
She added that much of Bridgeway's current investments center around the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, but they hope to reach farther across Western Pennsylvania.
Other Western Pennsylvania groups receiving funding include the Northside Community Development Fund; The Progress Fund, based in Greensburg; and the Altoona-Blair County Development Corporation.
First Published December 21, 2011 12:00 am
