Loan fund open in Franklin County

HARRISBURG - A $2 million Pennsylvania Business Opportunity Fund has been designed to provide loans and technical assistance to minority- and womenowned businesses in 13 counties across Pennsylvania.

"The creation of this fund is designed to assist small minorityand women-owned contractors who do not have access to lines of credit or other small business loans from traditional financial institutions," Governor Ed Rendell said. "Many times, this lack of access to credit prevents small business owners from competing for government and other contracts, and this loan fund will help level the playing field and provide another source of economic stimulus for Pennsylvania."

The Pennsylvania Business Opportunity Fund was developed in partnership with the Department of General Services, the Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Community First Fund, Lancaster.

DCED will provide $1 million in funding, which will be matched by the Community First Fund, who will administer the program. The DGS Bureau of Minority-and Women Business Opportunities will make referrals to the Community First Fund for loan financing.

This pilot program is open to businesses located in the Community First Fund's service area, which comprises the following counties: Adams, Berks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry and York. Based on this pilot, the plan is to make similar funds available statewide in the future.