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Penn-Northwest Forms Partnership for SBA Program
MERCER, Pa. -- Penn-Northwest Development Corp. is joining forces with the Altoona Blair County Development Corp. to provide low-interest loans to Mercer County, Pa., businesses through the U.S. Small Business Administration's 504 loan program.The new partnership provides for ABCD Corp. to process SBA 504 loan applications for businesses located in Penn-Northwest's service area, and work with Penn-Northwest to inform the business community about the loan program.ABCD Corp. is a certified development agency chartered by the SBA to administer the 504 program throughout Pennsylvania. "We are expanding our county partner base," said Martin J. Marasco, chief executive officer. "Since our lending region was recently expanded statewide, we have reached out to regional partners to offer our 504 lending experience and form new partnerships."The SBA 504 program provides funding for land acquisition, building construction, building purchases, renovations, equipment, leasehold improvements and related project costs.A training seminar will be held next month to introduce the program to Mercer County bankers and businesses. The date and location of the seminar will be announced shortly, officials said."Small businesses represent the largest employer base in the country, and the SBA 504 program has proved to be a vital financial component in launching new businesses and helping existing firms expand," said Larry Reichard, executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corp. "We are pleased to announce this important partnership and are looking forward to cooperatively marketing the 504 loan program in our region," added Shane Rosenfelder, finance specialist at Penn-Northwest.ABCD Corp. ranks sixth in the SBA's western Pennsylvania district for total dollar amount of SBA loan activity, according to the development agency's CEO."With more than $5.8 million in SBA loan approvals since the start of the federal fiscal year last October, we are seeing a large of amount of eligible small businesses utilizing the SBA loan program options," said Barry Surma, director of finance and development programs for ABCD Corp. "Our total loan portfolio now totals $13 million and we hope to grow that further by the end of the year."Visit Penn-Northwest Development Corp. at www.penn-northwest.comVisit Altoona Blair County Development Corp. at www.abcdcorp.org"