City of Cleveland Awards HFLA $75,000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Michal Marcus (HFLA)

Tel: 216-378-9042

Email: michal@interestfree.org

 

City of Cleveland Awards HFLA $75,000 for a Start-up Working Capital Fund Pilot Program

 

Cleveland, Ohio (SEPTEMBER 19, 2019) – Cleveland City Council approved $75,000 in funding to partner with the nonprofit Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) for the creation of a joint pilot program, Start-up Working Capital.  Working in conjunction with the City of Cleveland’s Neighborhood Retail Assistance Program, this citywide initiative will provide working capital for locally-owned retail establishments, alleviating cash flow issues associated with start-up businesses.

The program will enable HFLA to provide up to $5,000 in the form of interest-free loans for eligible small businesses located or soon to open in the City of Cleveland.

“We are thrilled that the City of Cleveland understands the impact of interest-free loans for small business entrepreneurs. This grant from the City of Cleveland Economic Development department will truly allow us to expand upon our partnership and the number of small businesses we can help with an interest-free loan and we look forward to our continued work together,” says Michal Marcus, Executive Director of HFLA.

Kevin Schmotzer, Executive of Small Business Development with the City of Cleveland’s Department of Economic Development says, “this builds upon a partnership between the City of Cleveland and HFLA that will provide additional capital to our entrepreneurs and small businesses to grow in our respective neighborhoods.”

About HFLA of Northeast Ohio

HFLA of Northeast Ohio was founded in 1904 with $501 donated by Charles Ettinger, Morris Black, and their friends to help European refugees settle and begin productive lives in this

country. They believed – as we do now – that if you give someone a chance to succeed, they will pay it back and we can continue this transformative cycle. The same principle guides the

organization today. By providing interest-free loans to individuals, families, and small businesses in the Northeast Ohio area, we are able to help people help themselves. The association has drastically increased its lending capital in the past few years from individual gifts, bequests, endowments, foundation grants, memorials and honorariums and is now operating with a loan fund of over $1 million. HFLA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Learn more about HFLA.

 

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