CCIDA Commits Over $10 Million in Federal EDA Funding

Loans Made to Businesses and Non-Profits to Aid in Economic Recover as a Result of COVID-19, Will Create 130+ Jobs

JAMESTOWN, N.Y.:— The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) officially announced on September 9, 2020 that the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA) had been selected as the recipient of a $10.5 million grant through the CARES Act, which enabled the agency to establish a new Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). The intent of the RLF is to provide capital, in the form of low-interest loans, to both businesses and non-profit organizations as a means to respond to economic injury resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the intent of distributing the funding across many sectors and do it an equitable manner, the CCIDA established target budgets by sector and deployed the funding in three rounds. The first round of funding was awarded at the October 27, 2020 CCIDA Board meeting, the second round was awarded at the January 26, 2021 meeting, and the latest and final round was awarded at the April 27, 2021 meeting. While the original allocation of over $10 Million has been fully committed, the loan fund will continue to be replenished as loan payments are made, thereby allowing the CCIDA to continue to loan this funding out into perpetuity. 

In total, the CCIDA Board approved funding for 50 businesses and non-profit entities in the following sectors: manufacturing/warehousing; not-for-profits; retail/commercial/agriculture; small business; and tourism/hospitality. All said, $10.4 Million in funding was approved by the CCIDA Board of Directors after a thorough review by the Loan Committee, which will, in addition to retaining more than 2000 jobs, create upwards of 130 new jobs.   

Mark Geise, Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and the CCIDA’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are elated that we could deploy all of the funding allocated to us in September of 2020 in less than 9 months, and in the process help more than four dozen businesses and not-for-profits to not only endure, but create jobs. Our extraordinary team at the CCIDA has worked very diligently to get this money out working in the community as quickly as possible, while ensuring that we are responsible, impartial, and address the EDA’s guidelines.” 

The entities approved for funding include, but are not limited to, the following: Merritt Estate Winery; The Original Crunch Roll; Pucci Carpet; Excelco/Newbrook; Artone; International Ordnance; Kimbert Manufacturing; Heritage Ministries; Uhl Ventures (Servpro); Ark Wholesale; SKB Auto Sales; Brigiottas; Billicki Law Firm; Advanced Production Group; Skate Shop; Corvus Bus & Charter; Webb’s Candies/Motel; Falconer Hotel; La Quinta/Holiday Inn/Hampton Inn; Big Inlet Brewing; Ivory Acres Weddings; Shawbucks; Cockaigne; Pace’s Pizzeria; Webb’s Harbor Restaurant and Bowling Lanes; Blackstone Advanced Technologies; the Resource Center; Meeder’s Restaurant; Lisciandro’s Restaurant; Bailey Manufacturing, and many others.

“It is a testament to the CCIDA that they were able to deploy over $10 Million awarded by the EDA in less than 9 months, while the EDA has given them two years to do so,”  said PJ Wendel, County Executive. “It is also very encouraging to see that they have distributed the funding among many sectors, and more than 130 jobs will be created in the process. As I’ve said all along, our comeback will be greater than our setback, and this funding is proof positive that we will not only recover, we have another economic development tool to spur investment and job creation in this County for years to come as a result of the pandemic.”

As part of EDA’s CARES Act Recovery Assistance, the EDA invited select current recipients of existing EDA-funded Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) awards, including the CCIDA, to apply for a supplemental RLF award to help respond to the unusual and compelling urgency of the coronavirus pandemic. EDA had determined that the CCIDA, by virtue of its longstanding and substantial investment in making credit available to small businesses, possessed unique abilities to support the CARES Act Recovery Assistance initiative and that it was therefore in the public’s best  interest to make this award available on a non-competitive basis.

“This award is a game-changer for Chautauqua County and speaks to the EDA’s confidence in the CCIDA to immediately deploy necessary capital within our County to retain and create jobs, and to expedite economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19,” said Geise. “I express my sincere gratitude to our entire economic development team for working so hard to secure and deploy this funding on behalf of the county. We have been committed to employing an allocation strategy for this funding that is systematic, inclusive, and equitable so we could have maximum impact on the business and non-profit community.”   

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCIDA, with the approval of EDA, established a $250,000 Emergency Working Capital Loan Program with most of the remaining available balance of its Al Tech Trust RLF capital. This program provided twenty-four $10,000 working capital loans to businesses faced with hardships at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This program was extremely successful, with 24 loan closings within four weeks of the program being created; however, this nearly depleted the Al-Tech Loan Fund and excluded several other businesses from participating. This, coupled with the fact that the CCIDA granted temporary deferments on principal payments to a significant number of existing loan clients, significantly limited the agency’s ability to make new loans. 

The CCIDA team, at the invitation of the EDA, responded immediately with required documentation to apply for the funding. As part of the application process, CCIDA staff created a detailed plan for responsibly and prudently deploying the funds in a way that provided flexibility for recipients as well as timeliness in deploying the funding in order to accelerate economic recovery within the County.  The newly-established CCIDA RLF Program was made available to a wide-range of industry sectors, including professional services, non-profits, and other sectors that have previously been excluded from receiving CCIDA loan funds through the Al-Tech Loan Fund. The new RLF provided loans of no less than $25,000 and not to exceed $1 Million, and working capital loans of up to $250,000, with an interest rate of 2.44% (the lowest allowed).

Geise stated that the application and program details are still available, albeit the funding is limited to what is being paid back to replenish the fund, and urges anyone interested in applying to contact the CCIDA office at 716-661-8900.  

About the CCIDA – The CCIDA is an economic development organization authorized and empowered by the State of New York to make Chautauqua County a better place to work, live, visit, and conduct business. It facilitates development by attracting new businesses, while promoting the retention and expansion of existing businesses. Assistance in the form of incentives – tax abatements, low interest loans, and bond financing – enhances the opportunities for job creation and retention by our businesses.  For addition information about the CCIDA, please visit its website at www.ccida.com.