Stay Informed!

By Lauren Stebbins on 12/07/2010 @ 03:33 PM

Tags: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Economic Development

Last week, the Baltimore Business Journal reported that M&T Bank has launched its Built for Business Program, which is targeted specifically to small businesses making less than $1 million in annual sales. The Built for Business Program includes discounts on financial services and products such as credit-card processing and business checking and (drum roll) an expanded microloan program that makes available no-fee lines of credit totaling between $25,000 and $250,000. M&T has instituted this program in Baltimore and its other mid-Atlantic markets.  

The expansion of M&T’s microloan program is no doubt great news for small-business entrepreneurs that are struggling to obtain growth or start-up capital. The articles notes how that is increasingly difficult for these entrepreneurs in this tough economic climate where it is hard to obtain home equity loans because of falling property values and to use credit cards because of cuts in spending limits. With this being the context surrounding the availability of business growth or start-up capital for small businesses, the importance of additional affordable options to obtain credit cannot be understated given the crucial role these businesses often play in driving community economic development and employment.  

As I read about the Built for Business Program, I couldn’t help but to be reminded of a post I wrote in early November about the success of a small dollar loan program in Baltimore. M&T’s program is not limited to Baltimore, but two things came to mind:

• The parallel between the significant positive impact low-income people and small businesses receive from affordable financial products and services better tailored to their needs
• That fact that programs offering these products and services have been established or brought to Baltimore, a city that had experienced a long period of economic decline and has sizable population of low-income residents and thus definitely can benefit from the availability of these programs

As these programs continue to be offered and hopefully grow, it will be exciting to see what I optimistically predict to be the positive effects and impacts they may have on more individuals and whole communities.

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