Valley Partners was founded in 1978 as Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation or MVEDC, a non-profit corporation. According to a 1980 press release, MVEDC “was created to prepare and implement a comprehensive economic development strategy for the Mahoning Valley; to coordinate efforts, to retain and promote the growth and expansion of existing business and industry in the Mahoning Valley as well as to promote, attract and secure new business and industry in the Mahoning Valley.” Our first revolving loan fund was established in 1979 with the help of funds from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the Ohio Department of Development. In addition, we were designated as a Certified Development Company (CDC) by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 1981, which gave us the ability to offer SBA 504 loans within the state of Ohio.
Valley Partners – Who we are and how we are here to help
Welcome to our new blog!
Happy New Year! A new year means trying new things, so our team is going try our hands at blogging in 2022! To start off our monthly blog series, we wanted to introduce Valley Partners and explain who we are and what we do.
Over the years we have expanded our lending programs and our geographical footprint. We now offer over fifteen different loan programs and provide services to Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Portage, Lake and Belmont Counties in Ohio: and Lawrence, Mercer, Beaver and Franklin Counties in Pennsylvania. In 2020 we changed our name from Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation to Valley Economic Development Partners to better reflect our expanded service area and growing partnerships.
Now that you know a little bit more about where we came from, let’s talk about what we do. Our mission is to continue to be a leader in developing employment opportunities through business creation, expansion, and retention in collaboration with other regional organizations. You’re probably thinking, ‘Ok, but what does that mean?’ Well, it means that we want to help small businesses grow, expand, create jobs, endure hardships, and become successful. So, how do we do this? Because of the long-standing programs mentioned above, and our strong partnerships with banks and financial institutions in our service area, we are able to help businesses by providing a financing bridge that complements traditional financing sources. In addition, we may be able to help businesses that are unable to secure financing through traditional means using our local long-standing in-house loan programs.
As an SBA CDC (Community Development Corporation) we are focused on offering services that support and promote community development through the SBA products that we offer. Our local loan programs are designed to help existing businesses grow and create jobs and attract new businesses into our community with creative loan packages. In addition, in 2019 we became a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which also drives our goal of expanding economic opportunity in low-income communities by providing access to financial products and services for residents of the Valley. We want to help guide everyone to achieve their business dreams.
So, now that you know what we do; why or when would you call Valley Partners? If you applied for a small business loan and you were denied by a bank, give us a call and we will see if we have a loan product that may work for you (Mario Nero). If you have an idea, but need help putting it on paper, give us a call and we will help guide you through putting together a sound Business Plan (Cassie). If you have a larger small business project such as the purchase of a business, a building or equipment and the bank doesn’t feel comfortable providing all the financing needed, give us a call and we have loan products to help fill the gap (Maureen Stenglein). If the bank needs you to put 20% equity into a project and you feel more comfortable with 10%, call us and we will look for a loan product to partner with your bank and lower your equity injection requirement.
Valley Partners has served our local communities for 44 years, and we look forward to continuing our mission in 2022 and beyond. Join us next month as we present the epic team that makes up VP!
