County Okays Loan to Re-Open Montpelier Ag
5/13/2010
Hartford City News Times
NT Editor/Publisher
Published: Thursday, May 13, 2010 6:08 AM CDT
Creation of a new revolving loan fund to aid new businesses and retain existing businesses was approved and used on the same day by the Blackford County Commissioners.
A $20,000 loan was granted to Bill Bonham to help him reopen Montpelier Ag, LLC., 240 W. Windsor, Montpelier, after the business where he was employed was closed by previous owners.
The loan fund is part of changes adopted in the Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) Capital Improvement Plan which the commissioners approved at their Monday, May 3 meeting.
The plan was presented to the commissioners by Rob Cleveland, executive director of the Blackford County Economic Development Corp. (BCEDC.)
Bonham planned to have his business up and running this week. “He has well in excess of 100 customers who are going other places now. Every day he’s not in business, his customers are going somewhere else,” Cleveland explained.
The money is a loan, not a grand and Bonham signed a loan agreement in which he agreed to repay the money over two years at 2 percent interest. There also is an early payback provision in the agreement.
"We certainly want to see Bill do well and he expects to do well," Cleveland said. "We have an EDIT surplus and he''s only asking for $20,000.
"It saves a business and at least one job. He has plans to hire more employees and grow the business," Cleveland said.
He added that he has connected Bonham with a local business resource group which employs several people, so the business opening helps them, too, as well as local residents who have had to find new sources for purchasing feed.
Bonham told the commissioners he plans for this to be a long-term opportunity. From his office he will sell retail such supplies as bird seed, pet supplies and customized feed.
He will be leasing the property from Central States, which owns the facility and the ground. “I have been in contact with the customers and got positive comments,” Bonham said.
Cleveland explained, “I don’t want the floodgates to open but this is an excellent opportunity to help a local business.”
He told the commissioners he wants to make it quite clear that the goal of this new revolving loan fund is not to give loans to all start-up businesses, nor to make the auditor’s office into a bank. The purpose is not to take business from the local banks, he said.
“But it is a necessary tool. It is a necessary step in certain circumstances; a last line of defense,” he noted. It also is a tool that has been utilized in other communities, he commented.
Loans can be made up to $150,000 per project to assist new projects in Blackford County pertaining to industrial, commercial and retail uses.
Fred Walker, commissioner, commented, “I think it fills a need.”
Along with approving the EDIT loan, the commissioners unanimously approved the capital improvement plan with other changes, such as a new committee to review the use of Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) funds.
The committee will make a nonbinding recommendation on requests for EDIT funds. The committee will review requests but the commissioners will not have to follow those requests, Cleveland explained.
The commissioners have granted EDIT funds to such projects as the greenway, the Montpelier Community Building and the Urban Forest Greenscape Commission for trees and gateway beautification.
Other discussion on the capital improvement plan, which is required by law, related to expenses in the industrial parks, which cannot exceed $200,000 in one year.
The definition of “industrial park” was expanded to include not only the two designated industrial parks in Blackford County, one in Hartford City and one in Montpelier, but other areas in the county that house industrial facilities.
“We have had some trouble defining industrial park improvements,” Cleveland said.
For instance, Hartford City Foam and Hartford City Paper are not technically inside the industrial park but Cleveland would like to see such businesses be able to receive benefits.
Improvements are listed as including but not limited to infrastructure improvement including technology, necessary improvements to a specific building or parcel of land, acquisition of land adjacent to the two existing industrial parks, signage and expenses related to the creation of new industrial space in the county.
The article can be seen on the Hartford City News Times website HERE.
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