 |
| US Senator Kay Hagan and representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA) gathered in the Mountain BizWorks office to present the organization with a check for $1 million to lend to local, small businesses. |
U.S. Senator Kay Hagan,
a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, today visited Mountain
BizWorks in Asheville, a non-profit community development financial institution
(CDFI) serving Western North Carolina, for the presentation of a $1 million loan
from the Small Business Administration (SBA). Mountain BizWorks provides
business loans and coaching to new and established small businesses in Western
North Carolina unable to access financing from banks and other traditional
sources. Mountain BizWorks will use the loan to provide microloans to small
business in Western North Carolina. Since 1989, Mountain BizWorks has
provided $9 million in loans to 715 small business owners who otherwise would
not be able to get the financing to start or expand, creating 3,500 jobs in
Western North Carolina.
"With $1 million for microloans to entrepreneurs and
entrepreneurs-in-waiting, this funding will help foster new small businesses
and, most importantly, more jobs in Western North Carolina,” said Hagan.
“With our economy still recovering, I believe this is exactly the type of
investment we need to be making. As North Carolina’s U.S. Senator and a member
of the Small Business and Banking Committees, my top priority is working with
our small businesses and the SBA to create a better climate and more tools to
help entrepreneurs to grow and hire.”
“Mountain BizWorks has done a terrific job in meeting the
financing needs of our small businesses here in Asheville and in the
far-western counties of our state,” said SBA North Carolina District
Director Lynn Douthett. “That means job creation for the
communities they serve, but also the opportunity for individual small business
owners to realize their dreams of owning and running their own
businesses. And so the SBA is excited to be able to offer this
additional financing to Mountain BizWorks so that even more entrepreneurs can
realize their dreams here in western North Carolina.”
“On behalf of Mountain BizWorks, I just want to thank
Senator Hagan and the Small Business Administration for the work they do
supporting small businesses in Western North Carolina,” said Mountain
BizWorks Board Chair Eileen McMinn. “Over the years we have
worked hard to get our small businesses in the area the funding that they
need. This very large level of funding signifies to us that the SBA
believes in our abilities and wants to continue to support us in our mission of
creating new businesses and expanding existing ones,” McMinn
continued. “And for this opportunity, we are truly grateful.”
No comments:
Post a Comment