Two new loan programs have launched to help minority- and women-owned businesses grow and boost the Ohio economy.
The new Women’s Business Enterprise Loan Program and Ohio Micro-Loan Program were both priority initiatives of the DeWine-Husted Administration included in the 2022-2023 operating budget.
The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) released rules and associated program guideline documents (Brownfield Remediation and Building Demolition and Site Revitalization) to govern the disbursement of $500 million in total grant funds for distressed properties in Ohio. Governor DeWine’s signature of H.B. 110 on June 30, 2021, set in motion the creation of two massive funding sources that are now available to community and economic development stakeholders: Brownfield Remediation Program (see R.C. 122.6511) and Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program (see R.C. 122.6512).
The Ohio Export Internship Program matches businesses interested in growing exports with highly motivated college students who have taken export-focused coursework. The Ohio Department of Development offers participating small to medium-sized businesses a 50 percent reimbursement for the wages of the intern.
This is an incredibly exciting and auspicious time for Ohio’s bioscience, health and life sciences industries, with incredible growth and massive record investment in recent years. In 2020, bioscience companies in the state attracted a record $3.3 billion from sources including venture capital, exits, angel investment, federal research grants and other state initiatives.
Government finance types have been in a mad scramble since March 2021 to answer the how, where and on what riddles to spending their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. As is well-known, the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency has pushed billions of dollars into state and local governments’ coffers. Thus leading to heady conversations – often with lawyers in tow – as to what are eligible expenses and what aren’t.