Allen Smith, President and CEO of the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce, has requested a $100,000 gift from the city to become the initial investor in a partnership with Michelin Development Corporation.
"We’ve got two weeks of work to decide how we will pay for it ($100,000) and what the contract will look like."
Ed Driggers
City Administrator
Allen Smith, President/CEO of the Greer Chamber and John Tully, President of Michelin Development made the presentation to council Tuesday night. City Administrator Ed Driggers steered Smith through the process of making the request before council.
Tully told council members Michelin would match any funds the Chamber generates dollar for dollar. Thus a $100,000 donation would double to $200,000.
Council will have the option of funding the full request, reducing it or denying the resolution. There is only one reading on a resolution and no public forum.
The Michelin Development offers low interest loans to new start-up, small and medium-sized businesses. Tully said the current rate is prime plus two percent.
“Basically, we raise money to put into the fund. They match it dollar-for-dollar with the caveat that any loans will only be issued to businesses in Greer proper,” Smith said.
Smith told council it was “innovative” for the chamber to offer owners of businesses financial support to locate in Greer. “We will be able to say to any current or prospective business that we have our own unique loan pool ready to meet their needs, so long as they qualify,” Smith said.
Driggers said he will review the frugal $18.5 million 2013-2014 fiscal year budget that was approved June 25. It represented a 2.37 increase over last year’s ($18.068 million) budget. Among the items included was $500,000 over 5-years for Greer Station improvements and development.
“We’ve got two weeks of work to decide how we will pay for it ($100,000) and what the contract will look like,” Driggers said. “The (Michelin Development) program has great credibility and is very successful.”
Driggers said he is sensitive to the request of taxpayers’ dollars funding a non-profit entity. Tully told council members he would “refund 100 percent of city money contributed if requested.”
Tully said Michelin Development’s board and staff will approve all requests for loans while maintaining its current standards of review. There are no Greer chamber board or staff member on the Michelin Development board or steering committee that oversees application requests.
The Partnership For Tomorrow awards grants to Greer businesses and the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority this month approved façade grants for The Trading Post, which opened today, and Cameroon Cigar store. City Council has amended ordinances to facilitate businesses with tax credits for locating in downtown Greer and upgrading original building standards.
Smith said, “Traditional sources of capital are harder to come by for a variety of reasons – the financial condition of the business might not be what it needs to be and tighter federal regulations on the banking industry.”
Smith told council he conferred with George Burdette (Greer State Bank), Jack Lucas (BB&T) and Ken Harper (Countybank). “If a client cannot qualify for a traditional loan, they are able to refer them to us and provide an answer instead of a rejection.”
Tully said Michelin Development has recently helped a downtown Greenville hat shop secure $10,000, and a Greenville IT company receive near the company’s $100,000 limit and other Michelin resources. “We’re proud we are in position to help people,” Tully said.
Tully said Michelin provides free additional support to borrowers with its in-house expertise on health and safety, recruitment, marketing and sales training to productivity improvement.