ICE can cool the nerves of small business owners
Organization says biz owners must be prepared, organized
Grants, loans, financing, lines of credit and where to find and receive any of them can be difficult for small businesses, but the folks at ICE, Inner City Entrepreneurs, say they can help.
ICE held a seminar last week with representatives of those funding sources, particularly public funding sources. The city of Worcester's office of economic development, the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency and the Commonwealth Corp.'s economic stabilization trust all offer different types of funding for small business, and detailed for the about 30 business owners in attendance how to go about getting that funding.
According to Andrew Goldberg, ICE's national program director, small business owners too often approach agencies like the city or Mass Development unprepared, and the result is discouragement.
But for the prepared business, agencies like Mass Development and Commonwealth Corp. bend over backward. Through ICE's programs, Optim Inc., a Sturbridge-based manufacturer of fiber optic and endoscopic equipment for medical and industrial uses, turned itself around from a company that was just breaking even fewer than 10 years ago.
According to Robert Griffin, the company's CFO, being prepared for the documentation requirements, business plan requirements and financial requirements not only helps businesses get funding from public agencies, but helps business owners better understand their own business.
"Be prepared," Griffin said. "In 1998, we got a $300,000 loan from the trust. The trust got us through to where we could get traditional financing."
But there is a financial blank spot waiting for some businesses. And none of the organizations at last week's seminar knew exactly how to fill it.
According to J. Jean Horstman, ICE's CEO, "there's an invisible spot above the SBA (federal Small Business Administration) micro loan, but below the $100,000 threshold" required by the likes of Commonwealth Capital.
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