Charter One and community partners announce new program to help small businesses thrive in targeted UPtown neighborhoods
Charter One UPtown Initiative served more than 85,000 people in its first yearCLEVELAND (April 25, 2007) - Charter One today announced its UPtown Small Business Outreach Program to stimulate and support small business growth in the six Cleveland neighborhoods known as UPtown. The Charter One UPtown Initiative is a three-year $150 million investment in community and economic revitalization efforts in Fairfax, Glenville, Hough, University Circle, Little Italy and Buckeye.
The UPtown Small Business Outreach Program will bolster the small business environment within the six-neighborhood footprint by providing access to low-interest loans, grants and educational programming. It addresses unmet needs of the community’s small businesses by offering grants for safety upgrades and retail design, discounted COSE memberships, discounted bank loans from Charter One, and micro-lending programs for entrepreneurs.
“Through our UPtown Small Business Outreach Program, we hope to provide an economic stimulus to small neighborhood businesses that create jobs and opportunities that are so important to help neighborhoods grow and prosper,” said Ned Handy, President and CEO of Charter One.
Charter One is hoping to build upon its successes as Ohio’s No. 1 small business lender as determined by the Small Business Administration in 2005 and 2006.
The components of the Charter One UPtown Small Business Outreach Program include:
- Discounted COSE membership scholarships for qualified businesses
- Discounted business banking products and loans targeted at small business
- Micro-lending program and post-loan follow-up through WECO Fund for small businesses and entrepreneurs that do not qualify for traditional bank loans
- Expansion of MoneyWatch financial education series to include small business education through WCPN/WVIZ Ideastream
- Grants for safety upgrades including locks, lighting and other safety concerns through Glenville Development Corporation
- Grants to provide stipends for artists and materials to upgrade and redesign retail spaces and storefronts
Handy thanked Charter One’s partners in creating and implementing the UPtown Small Business Outreach Program – the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), WECO Fund, Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition (CNDC), WVIZ/WCPN Ideastream and Glenville Development Corporation.
Steve Millard, executive director of COSE, said: “Through Charter One’s investment, COSE will have the ability to provide an estimated 75 businesses in the UPtown neighborhoods access to COSE memberships that will offer access to group-purchasing programs on health care, workers’ comp and energy, networking and education programs and other valuable business resources. By giving so many businesses in a targeted area access to opportunities and resources, we hope to really leverage the investment to foster neighborhood growth.”
Tracey Kirksey, executive director of Glenville Development Corporation – the group overseeing the safety upgrades and retail redesign in conjunction with CNDC – said the UPtown Small Business Outreach Program goes beyond financing assistance.
"I applaud Charter One's unique and innovative initiatives. Through this program, Charter One is not only helping to improve the safety of businesses and storefronts, it is also beautifying the neighborhoods through unique art design projects that increase curb appeal and boost the economic competitiveness of neighborhood retail districts,“ Kirksey said.
Dawn Benton, who owns All My Heart Education Center, a child care center in Glenville, with her husband Bernard, will apply for a grant to help cover the costs associated with a new security system.
"It was not easy for Bernard and me to get our business off the ground and maintain the revenues needed to stay afloat. Bells and whistles were out of the question. We serve a population of families who are struggling like we are, so we would never think of passing these kinds of costs onto them," said Benton. “Charter One’s proposed safety program is a godsend to businesses like ours, helping us make the center safer for our children without raising our fees or sacrificing the quality of our services.”
The Charter One UPtown Initiative was introduced last March and will provide, over the course of three years, $100 million for economic development investments and $50 million to develop market rate and affordable housing while improving existing housing stock.
Highlights of the UPtown results over the past year include:
- Grant funding and discounted loans that served more than 85,000 people in the UPtown neighborhoods
- Funding for five affordable housing projects through the Charter One Housing Bank that will create more than 152 affordable housing units
- A partnership with Neighborhood Progress Inc. to develop a model block program
- Grant funding for a merchants council and assistance for women in the construction trades
- Neighborhood beautification projects including Quincy Park in Fairfax and a community park in Buckeye
- Charter One Random Acts of Kindness volunteerism program that assisted seniors in Glenville, homeowners in Fairfax and shoppers in Buckeye.
About Charter One Bank, N.A.
Charter One Bank, N.A., is a $46 billion bank operating in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It has 466 branches and more than 780 ATMs. It has 161 branches and 210 ATMs in Ohio. Charter One is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $161 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Citizens has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 3,100 ATMs and more than 25,000 employees. It has a 13-state retail branch network plus non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states. Citizens is the eighth-largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits and ninth in assets as of September 30, 2006. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).
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