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2003 Business
Development
Corporation Highlights
By Laurie Andrews, Small Business Specialist
Michael Winicki, Small Business Specialist
The Business Development Corporation's mission for the last ten years has been to offer a comprehensive assistance program to respond to the diverse needs of the growing number of entrepreneurs in Cattaraugus County. This assistance includes business plan development, financing assistance, and marketing, management and financial support.
As part of our program the Business Development Corporation manages a Microenterprise Loan Program on behalf of the County. In 2003, almost $200,000 in loans were approved for ten businesses. These loans were then leveraged with other lending sources for an additional $750,000 in financing. This allowed the County's small loan fund to produce almost a million dollars in economic development for Cattaraugus County.
In addition to our loans, we offered several business training class sessions. The BDC conducted entrepreneurial training seminars three times during the year, with over 200 prospective entrepreneurs attending. We also held two separate class sessions for the tourism industry on "How To Create A Brochure to Help Market Your Tourism Based Business."
The BDC continued its successful partnership with St. Bonaventure University during 2003. Graduate students assisted the BDC and area businesses with their marketing and planning needs under the guidance of Dr. Todd Palmer.
The fall brought a special challenge for the BDC. The NYS Governor's Office for Small Cities invited Cattaraugus County to apply for a special economic development grant to help retain and create jobs in the area. The BDC, along with consultant, Harry Sicherman assisted the County in preparing a grant application. Ford Brothers Wholesale Meats was in need of such assistance. A grant was obtained for $318,000, with the funds being used as a grant/loan to Ford Brothers to create a waste water treatment facility. This loan will allow Ford Brothers to remain open, therefore, retaining all current positions with 10 additional employment opportunities being created in the next three years.
The BDC will develop a detailed annual report that will be presented at the annual dinner meeting in July of this year.
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