US Senator Kay Hagan presents Mountain BizWorks $1 million for small business support

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.”