“We are hugely appreciative of the smaller, hometown credit union coming through for us,” Cambria said Monday, April 26.
The Cambrias’ efforts to expand at a time when small businesses are having trouble accessing credit was detailed in a February Dayton Daily News story. They needed help from a lender to qualify for a Small Business Administration expansion program.
The expansion will mean 30 new employees and an additional 225 to 230 students, Cambria said.
Their Primrose School of Centerville has about 36 employees working with 200 full- and part-time students, Jason Cambria said. The loan will go toward building a second school in nearby Washington Twp. that he hopes to have up in four months.
“We are, I believe, a little more people-oriented than some other lenders might be,” sad Charlie Plassenthal, credit union CEO.
The credit union was able to help, Plassenthal said, because it is part of Cincinnati-based Cooperative Business Services, a credit union service organization.
The collaborative organization of member credit unions is able to provide loans and services that individual credit unions can’t handle on their own, said Plassenthal.
The Cambrias have a successful track record, he said.
“It wasn’t like he was just starting out trying to open a Burger King or something,” Plassenthal said.
The expansion plan calls for the Cambrias to put up 10 percent, with 40 percent coming through a loan from Dayton’s CityWide Development Corporation, guaranteed by the Small Business Administration.
The remaining 50 percent — about $1.6 million — comes from the credit union.
Cambria said the banks he talked with said “liquidity” was a problem and they “couldn’t get comfortable” with a loan in “my line of work.” He said they also expressed concern that he appeared to be in a “declining industry based on the way the economy is.”
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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