Microlender Gets $1M to Help Small Businesses

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Citizens Bank, which has four offices in the Mahoning Valley, announced Tuesday that it has provided a $1 million line of credit to a microlender, the Economic and Community Development Institute, so it can extend loans that range from $500 to $350,000 to small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Ohio.

The branches of Citizens are in Girard and Austintown, Boardman and Liberty townships.

The Economic and Community Development Institute – ECDI – is a nonprofit statewide Small Business Administration lender founded in Columbus in 2004. Since then, it has expanded to Cleveland, Akron and Toledo and helped more than 5,000 entrepreneurs, Citizens Bank says, and lent more than $25 million to 1,200 small businesses in the Buckeye State. ECDI says it has created or retained more than 4,500 jobs.

For more information on ECDI or learn how to obtain financing, visit its website, ECDI.org.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.