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Progress Authority outlines microloan program, business expo and property inventory plans to county commissioners
Summary
A representative of the Progress Authority told Susquehanna County commissioners about a new microloan fund, upcoming business outreach and a Sept. 16 business expo, and said the group will work with townships and the state property-inventory effort to promote local economic development.
Tee Thompson, a representative of the Progress Authority, told the Susquehanna County Board of Commissioners on June 25 that the authority has launched a small microloan fund and plans outreach to township supervisors and local businesses.
“My name is Tee Thompson, and I’m with the Progress Authority,” Thompson said. “We are an economic development wing, assisting the county with any and all economic development needs.” He described the Progress Authority as a public–private partnership and said the organization maintains a revolving loan fund that can assist small businesses.
Thompson said the authority recently received funds from the Montrose Area Industrial Development Association (referred to in the meeting as the META group) and used them to create a microloan fund offering loans of $5,000 to $10,000. “We have about $80,000 in that fund,” he said, adding the loans are intended for short-term operating needs such as meeting payroll.
Thompson said the authority plans to reintroduce itself to township supervisors, and will join a state round table on Pennsylvania business. He said the state is building an inventory site for available properties that the county can use to list development sites, and that the timing of the state budget was uncertain.
He also invited local entrepreneurs to a business-to-business expo on Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Susquehanna County Public Safety Center. “We’re going to have commercial lenders there. We’ll have real estate agents. We’ll have attorneys. This is for entrepreneurs,” he said.
The Progress Authority’s presentation occurred during the public comment portion of the commissioners’ meeting; no formal action was taken by the board on the items Thompson described.
