Noah Koretz, a Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) fellow hired by MassDevelopment, appeared on Monday’s Open Mike Show with Tim Coco. (Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, photograph).
Downtown Haverhill businesses—either existing or new—are eligible for a new low-interest loan program.
MassDevelopment and Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation have launched the TDI Microloan Program, offering loans for small businesses in state-designated Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) districts. Last December, the Commonwealth Gateway Cities Transformative Development Initiative selected Haverhill’s downtown as one of 10 “Districts in Development.” This spring, MassDevelopment hired Noah Koretz as a TDI fellow to work in Haverhill to advance local redevelopment visions.
“The new TDI Microloan Program will support small businesses since they are the backbone of TDI districts,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “To help the TDI districts realize their full potential, MassDevelopment is proud to partner with the Massachusetts Growth Capital to provide small businesses with the resources they need to thrive.”
Loans range from $10,000 to $100,000, have low-interest rates and flexible terms and may be used for a variety of small-business needs such as start-up costs, inventory or tenant improvements.
The TDI Microloan Program will complement the financing capabilities that MassDevelopment offers to businesses, developers and nonprofits for real estate, equipment and energy efficiency projects.
“These new loans are a great option for small businesses in cities across the state,” said Mass Growth Capital’s President Larry Andrews. “By combining MassDevelopment and Mass Growth’s unique assets, we can offer support and resources for regional economic growth.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions and communities to stimulate economic growth across the commonwealth. Last year, MassDevelopment financed or managed 314 projects generating investment of more than $2.9 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 6,300 jobs and build or rehabilitate more than 1,600 residential units.
MGCC works to create and preserve jobs at Massachusetts small businesses, women and minority owned businesses, and promotes economic development in underserved, Gateway Cities and low and moderate income communities. MGCC is a central state resource that offers working capital, loan guarantees, and targeted technical assistance to solve specific financial and operational problems for local businesses. MGCC works with traditional financial institutions to make challenging loans bankable, working with community development corporations and other non-profits to provide financing for job-producing projects, and assisting a wide range of small businesses find the growth capital they require. MGCC specifically targets manufacturers that are expanding, other growth sectors, and small businesses in our older Gateway Cities. Since inception, MGCC has assisted more than 224 companies with over 7,500 employees with customized working capital financing commitments totaling over $74,600,000.
Have to love what they call “development” when in reality it’s just a transfer of funds from taxpayers, but one should expect no less from an agency full of ex-pols and union officials.
True capital formation only comes from spending less that you make/earn, not borrowing, leveraging, or indebting yourself more. Of course here in MA (as well as the country), we have a long history of such failure, only the burden is put on taxpayers to make up the losses and the connected get to keep/privatize any profits.
This doesn’t “stimulate” anything, only gives the appearance thereof.
Transformative Development
That’s a great description of what this lying, incompetent tax and spend mayor and his impotent city council has done to downtown. They turned a potentially vibrant, healthy community resource into a target for new taxes and revenue generation. Just look at the transformation that has taken place under the mayor’s time in office. He ‘developed’ two major new taxes on people who visit downtown….a meals tax and a parking tax. He followed that up to maximize tax generation by purchasing a vehicle and hiring an employee to drive around downtown and ticket as many cars as possible. And it working!!!! The dirty little secret the mayor won’t discuss is that ticketing revenue generation is up….WAY up!!! And how about all the empty storefronts? That’s a great transformation. It means instead of creating a district where people would want to live, visit and start a business he’s transformed it into an area to create cash flow for his financially unsustainable failing government. Anyone who would borrow money to run a business downtown Haverhill has to be crazy.