As published at FirstFrontierForward.com
First Frontier Forward recently covered the story of the Tyrone Micro Loan Fund through an interview with councilman David Snyder. This week we spoke with Tom Seasoltz, CFO of the Altoona Blair County Development Corp. to discuss the details of the fund and how it’s helping small businesses.
“The program includes a low interest micro-loan component, as well as a grant component for eligible applicants,” says Tom. “Loans of up to $20,000 can be awarded under the program to help finance renovation, construction, real estate acquisition, and equipment projects. Grants of up to $3,000 may also be awarded when the applicant is matching the grant funds with private investment.”
Tom will act as the point person for program applications, along with Rich Lasek and Renae Lynn. They will underwrite the loan requests and move the application through ABCD Corp.’s approval process. Once approved, they will work with the borrower to close the loans and grants to fund the project as quickly as possible.
“While businesses affected by the pandemic and associated shutdowns are more than welcome to apply, we view this program as a traditional, core financing program that will be sustainable for many years,” Tom says.
What’s also unique about this program is it’s quick and simple application process. “We recognize that the barriers to entry in any market are significant enough already, so the ultimate goal is to get attractive financing into the hands of the businesses that need it most, without a lot of hassle,” says Tom. “When creating both the Tyrone Borough program and the Blair County First Frontier program, we focused on ease of access.”
“We have a simple one-page application. Once we receive the information we need from the borrower, we like to have an approval turned around in one week or less,” Tom continues. “So far, it’s been working out quite well, and we’ve received a lot of good feedback on how simple the process was.”
Tom, like so many other members of the First Frontier community, is passionate about supporting local businesses. “We truly feel that small businesses are the lifeblood of Blair County and larger economies. These businesses create meaningful, family-sustaining jobs in our communities and help in making Blair County a place we can feel proud to call home,” Tom says.
“We have such an impressive list of small, family-owned companies in our area that really make us unique. All of these companies help foster our neighborhoods and keep our Blair County money close to home. We would really like to thank the Borough of Tyrone for partnering with ABCD Corporation to seed this fund and bring a much needed financing program to life!”
To learn more about the program, contact Tom at 814-944-6113, or visit ABCD Corp.’s website at https://blairalliance.org/financing/#tyronemicro.
To apply for the Tyrone Borough Micro Loan Fund, call Tom at 814-944-6113 or email him at toms@blairalliance.org.
