Columbus Agency Gets SBA Grant to Aid Ohio Low-Income Entrepreneurs
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Small Business Administration has awarded a Columbus-based organization with funds to provide low-income entrepreneurs assistance in starting and expanding their companies.
The SBA announced the $250,000 grant to the Economic and Community Development Institute on Friday. ECDI is a one-stop resource center for small-business owners, serving as a SBA microloan intermediary, a community development corporation and a Treasury-designated community development financial institution. Serving clients in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, the organization has offices in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Akron, Canton, Toledo and Portsmouth.
“This award will allow ECDI to provide assistance and resources to Ohio’s smallest borrowers, who often have difficulty obtaining technical assistance and access to capital,” said Gil Goldberg, district director of SBA’s Northern Ohio Office in Cleveland, in a statement. “We look forward to continued co-operation with ECDI as the organization helps Ohio’s small businesses recover, grow and thrive.”
Grants made this year through the Program for Investment in Micro-Entrepreneurs, or Prime, focus on providing training and technical assistance to economically disadvantaged businesses, especially those in Opportunity Zones, HUB Zones and rural areas.
“The Biden-Harris Administration and Congress have worked together tirelessly to ensure our nation’s small businesses have the resources they need to survive this pandemic and build back better,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman in a statemet. “This year, SBA focused our Prime grant selection process on our nonprofit partners who can best bring federal resources to life, especially in the regions and communities where they are needed most. I look forward to partnering with these organizations as they help us connect America’s entrepreneurs with the capital they need to start and grow their enterprises.”
For more information on services offered by the Economic and Community Development Institute, visit its website at ECDI.org.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
