Comerica Bank announced that it will be adding $150,000 to the $300,000 Grow Santa Cruz fund established by the National Development Corp.
Comerica Bank announced that it will be adding $150,000 to the $300,000 Grow Santa Cruz fund established by the National Development Corp. The money will be used to make low-interest loans to small businesses in the city that lack the track record to get a bank loan. Bill Tysseling of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce says that “Comerica’s contribution provides a resource that, coupled with SBA guarantees, will permit lending a total of $1.5 million to businesses in the City of Santa Cruz.”
The funding is already making an impact on local businesses. For example, Rhino Toys used a $300,000 loan to hire a new staff member, increase its inventory and develop new products. The same is true of Sones Winery, which used a loan of $110,000 to hire three part-time staff members and to purchase more bottles for its wine. Santa Cruz Economic Development Coordinator Peter Koht says that the added infusion of cash will enable the NDC to provide loans to one or two businesses a month of the six to eight that currently apply.
At a reception Thursday night, loan recipients described how the loans helped their businesses to grow. Though applicants admitted that they had to go through a prodigious amount of paperwork, the results are well worth their while: lower interest rates and down payments, and smaller monthly payments. Read more at the Business Journal and Santa Cruz Sentinel.
