SMALL BUSINESS LOANS Ohio treasurer rebuts criticism

The treasurer maintains that the Mahoning Valley is getting a larger percentage of a business loan fund than in past years.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters says he has relaxed the qualifications for Mahoning County businesses seeking loans from the state's Small Business Linked-Deposit program as a way to give the economically depressed county an extra boost.
The Republican rebutted allegations by his Democratic opponent Mary Boyle that Deters has neglected areas with high unemployment rates and showed favoritism by lending more money to businesses in his home county, Hamilton in the Cincinnati area.
It's easier
To the contrary, Deters' press secretary Tim Clark said, relaxed regulations have made it easier for Mahoning County small businesses to qualify for the linked-deposit program than it is for most other businesses in the state, including those in Hamilton County.
Boyle held a press conference in downtown Youngstown last week to criticize Deters' allocation of the Linked Deposit Program loans, which the state treasurer's office administers.
Report's numbers
She used a 2002 annual report on the loan program to demonstrate that businesses in Mahoning and Trumbull counties combined got about $7 million in loans and Columbiana got $1.5 million, while businesses in Deters' Hamilton County home received about $60 million. Boyle argued that more loan funds should be given in communities, like the Valley, with higher than average jobless rates.
Clark acknowledged that Deters' home county received a larger percentage of funds, but he said that's only because the treasurer's office received a much larger percentage of loan applications from Hamilton County than any other county.
"Suggesting that our current treasurer is somehow "playing favorites" with what businesses get approved indicates a very basic lack of understanding of how our link programs operate," Clark said.
"The approval criteria used today are essentially the same criteria that were used when the program was created in 1983. The application and approval process is objectively based upon application information, not subjectively based upon opinion."
Besides, he said, the treasurer's office has no advertising budget to market its programs. Some depository banks market the loan program more aggressively, but Deters has no control over the banks.
The numbers
Deters' office noted that the Mahoning Valley got $1.7 million in Linked Deposit business loans under former Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow when the program totaled $150 million; the county received $2.9 million in loans under the Treasurer J. Kenneth Blackwell when the program had $800 million to lend.
The program totals $350 million under Deters, but his press secretary argued that Mahoning County is actually getting a similar or even greater percentage now than under past administrations.
"All of these facts clearly contradict the negative, politically driven scenario that Ms. Boyle attempted to portray," Clark said.
Boyle's office did not return a call.