News Room

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2007

Columbus, OH -- Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher today announced that a $48,000 Minority Business Direct Loan has been awarded through the Minority Development Financing Advisory Board (MDFAB) to Advance Industries Group, LLC, a Minority Business Enterprise certified through the Northern Ohio Minority Business Council located in Parma (Cuyahoga County). The loan will enable the company to increase sales by expanding marketing to clients interested in developing business relationships internationally and government contractors that have diversity programs.

"Advance Industries Group is an excellent Ohio certified minority business that is working hard to seek opportunities for growth here at home and for competing internationally," said Lt. Governor Fisher, who also serves as Director of the Ohio Department of Development. "We are pleased to support the growth of Advance Industries Group with this low-interest loan, as well as enhance opportunities available to Ohio’s small and minority-owned firms that are investing in our communities and creating jobs for Ohioans."

Advance Industries Group is a metal fabricator whose clients are original equipment manufacturers that provide material handling equipment; custom fabricated cabinets and enclosures, thermal and acoustical panels, and fabricated duct work. The loan will bear an interest rate of 2-percent for ten years and will assist Advance Industries Group in purchasing powder coating equipment from a company that is going out of business. Using laser and high definition plasma cutting, the company will provide the following processes: punching, notching, slitting, stamping, pressing and welding. The $80,000 project is expected to retain 17 jobs within the first three years of the acquisition.

The Minority Direct Loan Program provides low interest rate loans for the purchase or improvement of fixed assets to minority-owned businesses certified by the state, the Northern Ohio Minority Business Council and the South Central Ohio Minority Business Council, and the loan for Advance Industries Group is contingent upon approval of the State Controlling Board.

The MDFAB is charged with providing the Director of the Ohio Department of Development with recommendations for assistance through the Minority Development Direct Loan Program and the Minority Business Bonding Program. The Ohio Department of Development's Division of Minority Business Affairs works to create a business environment in Ohio that assists in the growth and development of minority-owned firms, which are defined as being at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one of the following ethnicities: African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian.

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Media contacts: Melissa Ament at (614) 466-6619 or Kelly Hassett at (614) 466-4133