YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Valley Economic Development Partners disbursed 203 financial products totaling $15 million to small businesses in 2024.

Another $26.9 million was leveraged from partners and client equity, bringing the total project funds invested into the community to $41.9 million.

As a result, 385 jobs were expected to be created, and 85 jobs were retained, according to Teresa Miller, executive director of the organization based in Liberty Township.

Of the small businesses assisted, 57% were women-owned, 44% were minority-owned, and 71% were located in underserved areas, Miller says.

Established in 1978, Valley Partners is a private, nonprofit organization that develops employment opportunities through business creation, expansion and retention through collaboration with other regional organizations.

It offers small-business loans with an emphasis on underserved populations.

Valley Partners’ Business Resource Center became an Ohio Minority Business Assistance Center for the Youngstown region in 2023. It provides small business owners technical assistance, business plan and financial projection development, business consultation, loan application packaging, monthly lunch-and-learn seminars and more.

In 2024, the BRC team assisted in the development of 100 business plans, serving over 306 clients. It helped these clients gain access to a total of over $4 million in capital infusion for their small-business ventures.

The BRC’s Accounting and Legal Assistance Grant program last year graduated 71 entrepreneurs in three cohorts. It used funds from the Raymond John Wean Foundation, the Youngstown Foundation, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the Mahoning and Trumbull boards of county commissioners (through the Valley Vision collaboration).

As a result of its efforts, the BRC team received the Ohio Department of Development’s Capital Infusion and Best Overall Performance Award.

In September, Valley Partners was awarded $800,000 from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The $800,000 allocation allows Valley Partners to recapitalize its GrowBiz Revolving Loan Fund, Miller says.

As this award requires an equal match from other nonfederal dollars, Valley Partners will continue to campaign for funds in 2025.