County to aid entrepreneurs

By BRANDON GLENN

1:43 pm, January 16, 2006

The Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners has allocated $1 million in product development loans this year for local entrepreneurs and companies.

The loans will be distributed after a competitive process in which a committee of business leaders reviews and assesses applications. Camp Inc., a nonprofit that assists manufacturers with product development, is administering the program. The review committee includes representatives from Camp, the county, nonprofit investment company JumpStart Inc. and motion-and-controls company Parker Hannifin Corp.

Applications are available on Camp’s web site, Camp.org, and are due by Feb. 23.

The loans carry an interest rate of 3.5% over 10 years, with the first three years deferred. The loans are open to companies and entrepreneurs with less than $50 million in annual revenues.

Loan recipients must make their products in Cuyahoga County for seven years after receiving the loan, according to Camp spokesman Peter Zale.

Under the program, the county provided loans totaling nearly $1 million last year, with most ranging from $20,000 to $60,000, Mr. Zale said.

Past recipients include Beachwood-based software developer BrandMuscle Inc.; Charitee Golf LLC, a Cleveland-based company that installs hole-in-one monitoring systems at golf courses; and Imalux Corp. of Cleveland, a developer of medical imaging technologies.

Return to other news stories