Banks form loan pool to support Cleveland business incubator

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Some local banks have banded together to help fledgling business tenants at the Cleveland/Bradley Business Incubator obtain low-interest credit for growth.

The banks are Athens Federal, FSG, Regions and Southern Heritage.

Don Geren, incubator executive director, applauded the bankers Wednesday for coming to the aid of the new businesses, “considering all that has transpired in the banking industry of late.”

For eight years, incubator tenants had access to a development loan program through the Tennessee Valley Authority.

After TVA recently suspended the fund, the local banks put together a loan pool to help incubator tenants with new equipment, expansion and marketing.

“The growth of the country depends on the entrepreneurial spirit. I think this is a prime example,” said Taylor Howard of Southern Heritage Bank. “I’ve watched people start their business here and come out and be successful on their own.”

Lynn Chesnutt, vice president for commercial lending at FSG Bank, also praised the program.

“Most of our large operations start with a small idea with one or two people and grow from there,” Mr. Chesnutt said.

“With economic conditions being strained, this is an opportunity for us to collectively get together and put in something that will ultimately succeed into something bigger,” he said.

The bankers said they often refer entrepreneurs to the incubator for guidance.

“This is like the cream of the crop,” said Susan Shelton, incubator board president. “They succeed at a much higher rate.”

She had more good news for the incubator.

“We just got approval from the Board of Regents to go forward with another building, and it will be pretty much green from the ground up,” Ms. Shelton said. The incubator is on the campus of Cleveland State Community College, a Board of Regents school.

And as the group met, workers were finishing the conversion of a large bay into nine office spaces. Incubator manager Hurley Buff said some of those spaces and other spaces in the building are available for start-up businesses.