Page 15 - Baltimore County Quality of Life Guide and Business Directory
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    Baltimore County Boost Fund SHelps Small Business Boom
mall business owners know the thin line between black and red. The Baltimore County Boost Fund exists to keep small businesses firmly in the black by making loans of $50,000 to $250,000 available with a reduced down payment
and interest rates at or below current market rates. The loans have a maximum 20-year term, and payment plans are customized to meet each small business owner’s needs.
Revenue from Maryland’s video lottery terminals funds these loans aimed at helping small, minority-, woman- and veteran-owned businesses to start, grow and thrive.
The Baltimore County Boost Fund provides business loans for:
 • Start-up funding
• Gap funding
• Building improvements • Equipment acquisition
• Leasehold improvements
• Business acquisition
• Working capital
• Commercial real estate acquisition
FOR MORE INFO:
Baltimore County Department of Economic & Workforce Development businesshelp@baltimorecountymd.gov 410-887-8000
Baltimore County
Department of Planning planning@baltimorecountymd.gov 410-887-3211
Baltimore County Boost Fund
boost@baltimorecountymd.gov
 To qualify for a loan, a business must:
• Be classified as a small business by SBA Standards And the business owner must:
  • Have a personal credit score of 575 or higher
• Provide collateral as security for all loans
• Provide personal guarantees Source: bcboostfund.org
Want to see if you qualify? Visit www.bcboostfund.org/inquire to find out.
The Boost Fund has approved more than
$1.4 million in loans to key job-creating industries.*
*Source: bcboostfund.org
BCounty Banks Offer Comprehensive, Flexible Lending Landscape
altimore County’s banks pride helping banks work with small, minority- its offerings for business clients, which themselves on flexible, custom- owned, women-owned and veteran-owned might include workplace banking or tailored offerings for both startup businesses. financial-literacy seminars for clients’
businesses and more established ones looking to expand their reach.
For Wells Fargo, collaborating with the Small Business Administration (SBA) has allowed more latitude in what the bank is able to offer its business customers in the Baltimore area, said Joshua Allen, vice president and business development officer. “Our work with the SBA really allows a lot of small businesses to open their doors or change hands,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of mergers and acquisitions taking place, and quite honestly I don’t think they would take place without the assistance of the SBA, and them taking on some of the risk of the bank for a lot of these.”
Allen also cites the County’s BOOST Fund as an important resource that is
Furthermore, Wells Fargo is able to
provide customized support to medical professionals through its highly specialized finance division. The bank’s equipment financing department, meanwhile, helps provide tailored loans and leases for contractors, manufacturers and others in need of specialized equipment, Allen said.
Another bank with a large local presence, First National Bank (FNB) offers its business clients “true free checking accounts, which allows them to be flexible in their deposits, especially if it’s a startup business,” said Branch Manager Leah Beverly. FNB also is a preferred SBA lender, which can help small businesses cut down on or eliminate waiting periods for loans.
FNB prides itself on its ability to customize
employees, said Beverly.
Adding to Baltimore County’s diverse banking landscape are lenders such as BB&T, which offers access to the latest payment-processing technologies, and PNC Bank, whose Clover Online program makes website design and digital payments easy for customers.
All in all, Allen said, Baltimore County is a great place to bank and do business. “There’s lots of opportunity and lots of growth. No matter what you want to do, there’s a place in the county for you.”
“There are so many movers and shakers; there’s so much development,” Beverly added. “The customer doesn’t have to go far to make a deposit or inquire about a loan.”
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