Working with MEACO will not only benefit your business but will benefit your entire community.
The Mentor Economic Assistance Corporation (MEACO) is designed to help further economic growth as a tool for resources for gap financing for small businesses in the area and has been serving Mentor and Lake County residents since 1983.
MEACO is a certified development company (CDC) ran out of the Mentor Municipal Center. Being a CDC, they are certified by the federal government to run SBA 504 programs anywhere!
MEACO was established in 1983, but today’s renewed success is driven by Executive Director Kelly Conrad. MEACO offers a Micro-enterprise Revolving Loan program which offers borrowers up to $50,000 with at a current interest rate of only 4% with no prepayment penalties or application fee. This loan program is only available for brick-and-mortar businesses located in Mentor.
MEACO also prides itself on its SBA 504 loan program which offers an exceptionally low fixed interest rate. The loan is structured with a conventual lender underwriting 50% of a project, the SBA at 40%, and the borrower at 10% equity. The SBA 504 is not limited to Lake County businesses.
A unique benefit of going through MEACO is the personal connection made between the business and the lender.
“You get more of a personal relationship I think because it’s just me. I do everything from taking the application, to the underwriting, to the servicing,” said Conrad. “Being government, working for the city and knowing government programs, we can layer those with loans which is a big benefit to our clients as well, having the knowledge of what other programs we can put in with the funding that they need.”
Another advantage to working with a smaller CDC like MEACO is that there is no backlog and loans are closed at a quicker rate than any large CDC.
“Our last loan closed in less than 30 days. That’s practically unheard of for an SBA,” said Conrad.
Through the years, MEACO loan programs have helped create over 2,000 jobs in the city of Mentor, with over $27 million brought into our community.
For more information, Contact Kelly Conrad at conrad@cityofmentor.com or (440) 974-5740 or visit meaco.us.