SBA aid program garners praise

City officials are tying blight cleanup to financial help for small businesses.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Steve Vivo knows firsthand that the city's small business assistance program now is about more than just loans and grants.
Vivo owns a scrap metal yard on Poland Avenue, US Trading Inc. The company will get almost $22,000 in city loans that he won't have to pay back if he honors his $123,000 commitment to buy new equipment.
There is a catch to receiving the city help, however.
The Youngstown-U.S. Small Business Administration Revitalization Initiative is tying the program's money to blight cleanup. The 2-year old program combines city financial programs, low-interest private bank loans and SBA loan guarantees.
To gain city approval, Vivo had to promise to install a new fence around the property and new siding on his building. The improvements will better screen his scrap metal from the street and blend his building into other nearby businesses.
In return, the city is providing $10,000 for the fence and siding through a facade improvement program available to all companies. The loan becomes a grant if a company stays open five years.
No problem for owner
Vivo doesn't mind the approach despite the extra work involved. He admits a scrap yard isn't the prettiest of industries.
The city would have fewer jobs and companies -- plus look worse -- without the programs, he said.
"I can't express enough how much these programs help," Vivo said. "These programs allow this to happen."
The city doesn't apologize for using its small business program to leverage aesthetic improvements.
"We've been able to use it as a tool to achieve other goals," said Tameka Woodberry, the program's coordinator.
This year the SBA initiative has far exceeded its business goals, too.
Nine small companies got city assistance and pledged nearly $4.3 million in investment and 150 jobs this year. Ten other companies, including Vivo's, have qualified this year and await bank and SBA loan guarantees. Another $4.3 million will be invested and 109 more jobs created, presuming all 10 get the loans and SBA approvals as expected.
Last year, 17 companies invested $3 million and created about 250 jobs.
Word is spreading
The numbers are larger this year for one main reason, Woodberry said. Established small businesses have heard about the program. The program mostly drew startup companies last year, she said.
Helping more established businesses is gratifying, Woodberry said. That means those companies are further rooting themselves to the city, she said. That creates stability for workers.
"They're more committed to staying here. That's what we want to see," she said.
Experience is the initiative's best advertisement, Woodberry said.
Indeed, Steve Vivo learned about the program from his brothers Vince and Nick, who operate the Vivo Bros. Millwork shop. Vivo Bros. used help from the SBA initiative to expand and get out of its small, rented space.
US Trading is in much the same position. Steve Vivo is buying machinery that will squeeze 50 square yards of scrap into 2 square yards.
The equipment is vital to keeping his company going, Vivo said. He has space for 40 truckloads of scrap a day. US Trading, however, gets double and sometimes triple that many trucks coming in a day. The volume challenges the company daily, he said.
Setting an example
Woodberry looks beyond statistics as the measure of success. Instead, she points to cities that are borrowing Youngstown's program as a model.
Akron started a similar program this year and Toledo set one up that will start soon.
Toledo's mayor heard about the program from the head of the SBA in Washington, said Steve Seaton, Toledo's development director. Youngstown's track record of investment and job creation, combined with getting $5 in SBA guarantees for every $1 invested, makes the program stand out, he said.
Last month, Honolulu and Niagara Falls, N.Y., also called the city asking for advice about setting up such programs.
Those examples are the clearest sign that Youngstown's program is working, Woodberry said.
"To me, that speaks volumes about how successful our program is," she said. "It's quite a compliment."
rgsmith@vindy.com