“We found there are lots of programs for bringing things in from out of state, but very little to help what’s already here,” Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague said.
Sprague spent Monday touring Dayton area small businesses to tout the new program and meeting with potential recipients, including A.J. Rolling, who called the program a “gamechanger.”
Rolling owns two area manufacturing companies, Cat-Wood Metalworks in Moraine and Buckeye Metal Finishing in Dayton, which produce parts for use in aerospace among other industries.
He employs 42 machinists, programmers, painters and other skilled trade positions between the two companies paying between $50,000 and $120,000 a year.
Rolling said that after four years of double-digit growth, interest rates on loans have gotten to the point where they’re hurting expansion.
“For me (rates) started out at 6% then jumped to 10%. That’s the difference between hiring three people,” Rolling said.
To be eligible, the borrower must have a for-profit business headquartered in Ohio, be at least 51% domiciled in Ohio, and have 150 or fewer employees at least 51% of whom are Ohio residents.
Business owners select a participating financial institution which submits an online buckeye Business Advantage application to the Ohio Treasurer’s office for review.
Once approved, state funds are deposited with the financial institution at a below-market interest rate. In turn, the institution reduces the borrower’s rate.
Sprague said Buckeye Business Advantage mirrors Ohio’s Ag-LINK program which offers low interest loans to farmers to cover upfront operating costs such as feed, seed, fertilizer and equipment.
Ohio has about $1.6 billion available for projects such as Buckeye Business Advantage and Ag-LINK.
Ohio has an estimated 1.1 million small businesses - those with fewer than 500 employees - comprising 99.6% of the state’s total businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy’s 2024 small business profile report.
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