Maryland Commerce Supports Small, Minority Businesses with $850,000 In Financing
BALTIMORE, MD (June 20, 2018) – The Maryland Department of Commerce today announced that three small and minority-owned businesses have received a total of $850,000 in loans, equity investments, and lines of credit through the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority (MSBDFA). The businesses will use the funding to support expansions, as well as for working capital and equipment purchases. Created in 1978, MSBDFA provides financing assistance to small and minority-owned businesses throughout Maryland through direct loans, working capital, loan guarantees, and assistance in obtaining surety bonding and lines of credit.
The businesses receiving financial assistance include A-Connection, Inc., a Baltimore-based fiber optics and telecommunications construction firm; Lessoncast Learning, Inc., a Baltimore-based professional learning platform designed to develop and show teaching effectiveness; and Williams Consulting, LLC, a woman-owned healthIT services firm based in the bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park.
“The Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority plays an important role in providing our small and minority businesses with much needed working capital, loans, and lines of credit to help them expand and add jobs right here in Maryland,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Mike Gill. “Through this program, we have been able to assist hundreds of Maryland businesses and provide the kind of support to ensure their long-term success.”
MSBDFA is managed by a private contractor – Meridian Management Group (MMG), a professional asset manager for economic development and private equity funds.
“These are the kinds of businesses MSBDFA specializes in funding, in particular, those businesses in urban and rural distressed communities,” said Stanley Tucker, president and CEO of MMG. “We strategically designed programs to provide a continuum of financing products because many businesses we serve have challenges meeting the credit criteria of traditional financial institutions.”
To learn more about the program, please visit commerce.maryland.gov/msbdfa.
About Maryland Commerce
The Maryland Department of Commerce stimulates private investment and creates jobs by attracting new businesses, encouraging the expansion and retention of existing companies, and providing financial assistance to Maryland companies. The Department promotes the State’s many economic advantages and markets local products and services at home and abroad to spur economic development and international investment, trade and tourism. Because they are major economic generators, the Department also supports the Arts, film production, sports and other special events. For more information, visit commerce.maryland.gov.
