How Baltimore County’s Boost Loan Fund can help your Maryland business

It’s an exciting time to be a small business in Baltimore County.

Biotech and edtech startups are thriving locally, thanks in part to Baltimore County’s Boost Loan Fund program, which launched in October 2014.

The Boost Loan Fund is a loan program funded by revenue generated from Maryland’s video lottery terminals. The recipients — small, minority, woman and veteran-owned businesses throughout the state — receive loans of $50,000 to $250,000, which are then used for start-up and gap funding, improvements and acquisitions, and for working capital. To date, over $2 million in loans have been approved for local businesses.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz challenged the Department of Economic and Workforce Development, which administers the Boost program, to exceed the 50 percent target goal of reaching minority, women, and veteran-owned business. The result: more than 75 percent of all Boost Loans went to these business owners. The county is actively reaching out to its next round of applicants to keep the momentum going.

Those businesses span a variety of industries, including companies like Aegis Mechanical, an HVAC and plumbing contractor, which is using its Boost loan to expand its government contracting business, and cybersecurity business Light Point Security, using its loan to grow its customer base.

Below, take a closer look at edtech startup Lessoncast and healthcare company Amethyst Technologies, two minority and women-owned ventures driving innovation with the help of the Boost Fund.

Read more at http://technical.ly/baltimore/2016/02/18/baltimore-countys-boost-loan-fund-can-help-maryland-business/