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New Cayuga Women’s Business Trust Fund Announced
Cayuga Lake National Bank is pleased to announce the creation of the Cayuga Women’s Business Trust, a new trust fund to benefit women entrepreneurs in Cayuga County.
The Cayuga Women’s Business Trust is a fund to assist women in Cayuga County in entrepreneurial ventures by making capital available to secure small business loans.
The trust will be pledged to secure small business loans for the benefit of a woman or women with a worthwhile business plan for the establishment or expansion of a business located in Cayuga County for which she or they would not otherwise qualify for funds due to a lack of equity or collateral under prevailing bank lending practices.
Cayuga Lake National Bank President G. William Ryan was approached by Cynthia Aikman, Ann Petrus, Gwen Webber-McLeod, President of Gwen, Inc., Roberta Williams and Tracy Higginbotham, President of Women TIES to establish the fund.
“Collectively we saw a need for a fund that could be used to help women business owners move their business ideas from plan to reality. We have each witnessed women who possess the talent and ideas but cannot get funding to bring their entrepreneurial concepts to fruition. We wanted to help,” states Cynthia Aikman.
The fund is modeled after revolving funds that operate in Asia and Africa where groups of women support each other, one at a time, to start a business, grow it, pay the loan back so that the next women in the group can borrow the money and start her business. The support of the women waiting to receive a loan helps the women starting the business and gives those waiting experience and insight.
“As we look to our future, it is important to continue to provide mechanisms for self improvement and advancement. Cayuga Lake National Bank has a reputation for investing in the entrepreneurial efforts of our customers. We have successfully been making loans to small businesses for 40 years so this new trust fund is a wonderful idea” said Bill Ryan, President & Chairman of Board of Cayuga Lake National Bank.
The trust fund will assist women who are residents of Cayuga County who want to establish or expand their business based in Cayuga County. The business must have a compelling business plan, the ability to attract wealth to the principal as well as the community, and provide living wages for the principal projecting annual sales. The first loan will be made December 2010.
For more information on the fund or to make a donation to help grow the fund, contact Cayuga Lake National Bank at 315.889-7358.
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