The Metropreneur and the Columbus Metropolitan Library hosted the Finding Funding for Local Small Business Development Brown Bag Luncheon at the library on Sept. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
During the panel discussion −moderated by Columbus Underground and Metropreneur Founder Walker Evans− Jonathan Beard, president and CEO of the Columbus Compact Corp., Steven Fireman, president and general counsel for the Economic and Community Development Institute, and Scot Hardin, lender relations specialist at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Columbus District Office, talked about several topics pertinent to new and existing businesses.
Those topics included the SBA’s loan application process; Columbus Compact’s business financing and the kinds of businesses eligible for funding; ECDI loan limitations and the types of businesses for which its loans are ideal; the impact a business’s location can have on the owner’s ability to obtain financing; local funding options for online-based businesses; and the emegence of microlending through social networks and websites.
More than 40 people attended the Brown Bag Luncheon, which helped celebrate Franklin County libraries’ Job Help Week, Sept. 13-17.
Photography by Adam Slane and the Columbus Metropolitan Library.