It is with great pleasure that I congratulate the 43 Cascade Capital Corp. Business Growth Award winners for 2014. These companies are located within Summit, Medina, Portage, Wayne, Stark and Ashland counties in Northeastern Ohio.
Based on both the Business Growth Award’s criteria and the challenges facing small companies in today’s business environment, this is quite an accomplishment. A company can earn a Business Growth Award by either increasing its sales level or increasing its employee base over the course of the past five years. The importance of its growth measures far beyond actual sales and employee figures though.
From an economic development perspective, increased regional company sales to other parts of the state, across the nation and even internationally, enrich our local/regional economy. Receipts and profits generated by growing area companies are positively manifested when these companies purchase local goods and services, invest in new operating facilities, equipment and employees. These wealth-creating mechanisms directly lead to the economic vitality of our regional economy.
The goals of Cascade Capital Corp. are to invest, on a long-term basis, in the communities it services and to provide meaningful financing assistance to small and medium-sized companies poised to grow through investment in new operating facilities, equipment and human resources.
Over the course of the past three to five years, Cascade Capital has committed $1.2 million of its own financial resources towards economic development initiatives in Summit, Medina, Portage and Wayne counties.
Cascade Capital also provides affordable, long-term fixed interest rate financing directly through its SBA 504 Loan Program. The SBA 504 assists growing small to medium-sized companies in purchasing new operating facilities, equipment and even other businesses. In combination with traditional bank financing, Cascade Capital delivers 90 percent financing for major company purchases. Twenty-year financing terms are available for building purchases with recent interest rates under 5 percent fixed.
Cascade Capital’s Ohio 166 Loan Program continues to offer perhaps the most competitive fixed interest rate available for business borrowers — only 3 percent fixed for five years and under 4 percent fixed for 15 years.
A number of 2014 Business Growth Award winners have received funding in the past from Cascade Capital through its SBA 504 and Ohio 166 loan programs.
Congratulations to all of Cascade Capital Corp.’s 2014 Business Growth Award winners on a job well done! Thank you too for your continuing role in supporting and revitalizing our local and regional economy through your sustained growth and investment.
Robert Filipiak is executive director of Cascade Capital Corp.
