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Flagship Enterprise Center Awarded $37,500 grant from Bank of America to Tap New Low Cost Funds for Small Business Lending

07/31/12
Adam Hoeksema, (765) 622 – 7960
adam@flagshipenterprise.org

Flagship Enterprise Center Awarded $37,500 grant from Bank of America to Tap New
Low Cost Funds for Small Business Lending

Approximately 20 local businesses expected to benefit from new access to loans

Anderson, IN – In an effort to find new ways to help small and start-up businesses in the region, Flagship Enterprise Center is working with Bank of America to unlock new loan capital for small business expansion and job creation. Flagship Enterprise Center today announced it has received a $37,500 grant from Bank of America for use as loan loss reserves required by federal programs to access $250,000 in loan capital that is then used to make small-sized loans to local businesses.

As many as 20 local companies are expected to receive much needed loans from this new effort, a 75% increase in the amount of loans that the Flagship Enterprise Center makes annually to local businesses.  Flagship also estimates the new capital will help retain or create 40 jobs in the area, by supporting local business growth.
Adam Hoeksema, the Flagship Microloan Manager, said, “This grant will allow us to accelerate our lending activities at a time when there are many small businesses in great need of capital to expand.  Without the funds from Bank of America it may have taken 24 to 36 months to deploy the $250,000 in SBA loans.  Now we anticipate making $250,000 in microloans over the next 12 months.”
Federal programs to support small business lending often require microlenders to fund a loan loss reserve. As a result, microlenders that lack these reserves are unable to tap this source of flexible capital for small businesses. As the nation’s largest CDFI lender with more than $1 billion invested with 120 CDFIs in 37 states, Bank of America recognized the critical role microlenders play in revitalizing local economies and created this grant program to quickly provide microlenders with access this capital to spur local economic growth.
“Helping strengthen small businesses and new start-up companies stimulates job creation and is critical to our nation’s economic recovery. Bank of America is empowering these entrepreneurs by directing private sector capital to unlock exponentially greater amounts of federal dollars for their businesses. These loan loss reserve grants may unlock as much as $120 million in low-cost, long-term capital for small business and microloans nationwide by mid-2012, so even the smallest grant enables a nonprofit lender to leverage approximately ten times that amount to lend to small businesses. This creates a ripple effect impacting job growth, spending and overall economic expansion,” said Dan Letendre, community development banking executive, Bank of America.
Since the grant program was created in the fall of 2010, Bank of America has provided nearly $10.8 million to CDFIs across the country, enabling them to access more than $109 million in federal micro-capital serving more than 9,200 local businesses and helping create and retain more than 14,500 jobs.
The Flagship Enterprise Center
The Flagship Enterprise Center is a technology based business incubator and microlender.  Since starting as an SBA microlender in the fall of 2010, the Flagship has approved 18 loans between $1,000 and $50,000 in east central Indiana.  These loans have helped early stage companies create or retain approximately 40 jobs. For more information, please visit http://www.flagshipenterprise.org/
Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 56 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,600 retail banking offices and approximately 16,200 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users. Bank of America is among the world’s leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more Bank of America news, visit the Bank of America newsroom.

www.bankofamerica.com