Area start-ups will soon have a new source of loan funding. Wednesday, First Niagara Bank, Pathstone, and the City of Rochester jointly announced a new $500,000 "microlending" program for small businesses.
Rochester entrepreneurs will be able to apply for loans up to $25,000 at a time to create or grow their business.
Stuart Mitchell is president of the community development organization, Pathstone. He says the non-profit will work with emerging entrepreneurs to help them develop their business ideas and create a repayment plan.
"There are many of these business that come out of their garage or out of their basement, or any number of places like that (to keep their overhead low and to find a niche) and then begin to grow from there," said Mitchell.
Mayor Lovely Warren says the program invests in Rochester businesses that wouldn't qualify for a loan otherwise, because most banks prefer to lend to larger more established clients.
"This program [gives] those people with micro-businesses or small businesses the opportunity to get some type of assistance that they wouldn't ordinarily receive in a traditional banking sense," the mayor told reporters.