Catalyst Connection offers $4 million loan fund to Allegheny County manufacturers

Allegheny County manufacturers just received a shot of financial adrenalin from Catalyst Connection and Bridgeway Capital. A $4 million loan fund offers loans of up to $250,000 to manufacturers with fewer than 500 employees. That makes 1,600 companies that can use the money, dubbed the Manufacturing Growth Cooperative Fund, for working capital at a low fixed rate.

Catalyst Connection is a private nonprofit that provides assistance to companies throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. Bridgeway, located in Pittsburgh, provides capital and education opportunities to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the region.

“It’s actually pretty unique,” says Catalyst Connection’s Tom Reed. “Typically, you have to have matching funds when you’d apply for loans. Bridgeway Capital and Catalyst Connection have teamed together, so no separate source for a match is required.”

Job creation is not a prerequisite for the loans, which carry a 6 percent interest rate. The fund is expected to be self-replenishing and may be expanded to other counties in the future, says Reed, who adds that the Fund has already received its first applications.

Source: Tom Reed, Catalyst Connection
Writer: Chris O’Toole