Banks can help small business owners

LANCASTER – Local business owners looking for financial help don’t have to go far to find small business loans.

Two city banks, Standing Stone Bank and Fairfield National Bank, have loan programs available to help.

“We have a lot of different options on the loan side,” Standing Stone President Jeff Beard said. “If a business is looking for a piece of equipment, we can certainly do a loan based on that. We could do lines of credit so if they have some cash flow needs throughout the year, they could have a line of credit where they could tap that to get the cash they need. Typically, that’s secured by accounts receivable and other assets that the business may have.”

Beard said the bank also offers real estate loans.

“Those would be the primary loans,” he said. “But there’s so much mixing and matching within those three different things. There’s a lot of flexibility when it comes what kind of assets you have to loan against and what are the terms and structures? So we feel like businesses should be able to get their cash-flow needs met in some combination of those types of loans.”

Fairfield National once again has a $1 million pot to loan those interested in buying a downtown commercial building.

Qualified projects should include improvements to the exterior facade, but the projects also can include interior improvements. This program is available until Dec. 31. Information about the program is available by calling Scott Reed or Kim Sheldon at 740 -653-7242.

Reed is a vice president and commercial lender.

“We enjoy being a part of downtown Lancaster and we look forward to helping our neighbors enhance their property and the aesthetics of our downtown business district,” he said in a statement.

Fairfield National loaned out $1 million last year in downtown business loans.

Fairfield Federal Savings and Loan president Judy Root said since her place is a savings and loan, it does not offer small business loans. But that doesn’t mean it can’t help in other ways.

“But we can do commercial real estate loans and we can issue credit cards,” Root said.

Big Ideas owner Jerrod Myers got a loan from Fairfield National Bank in 2011 because his Columbus Street business was growing so much.

“We felt the need to recapitalize our business and considered a host of banks to work with,” he said. “Fairfield National, being a local bank, made a lot of sense for us. We had relationships with them already and they were very easy to work with and accommodating. Our thought process was that a local bank would understand our needs possibly more than a national bank, with the general assumption that they’re more in tune with the local marketplace.”

Myers said he used the money for cash flow, inventory and equipment.

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron