Martha Semmes of Main Street Loudoun and Georgeanna Emery of the Small Business Association are teaming to take business assistance on the road to citizens of Loudoun County.

By joining forces on a "Business Assistance Road Tour" this summer, they intend to acquaint Loudoun's citizens and small businesses with the many business assistance services available through these organizations.

Small businesses are the core of America's economy and growth. That is abundantly evident and extremely important in Loudoun County, the fastest growing county in the nation.

Executives at the Small Business Association's Washington Metropolitan Area District Office (WMADO), have been very proactive as they assist Loudoun's small business community with economic growth and development. But recently, when Georgeanna, Economic Development Specialist, and her staff were asked to focus on job creation in Loudoun County, she looked for a partner who could build synergies as well as awareness. Martha Semmes and the Main Street Loudoun initiative proved to be the perfect partner for this county-wide campaign.

In Loudoun County, where 10,152 new jobs were created since 2001 and business establishments more than doubled between 1992 and 2002, the district SBA office has approved 134 loans totaling over $35 million dollars to small businesses.

Take this show on the road
Georgeanna's and Martha's goal is to make certain all present and potential understand how to access these resources. They have scheduled a series of walking tours of Loudoun commercial centers to bring this important information directly to the doorstep of Loudoun's small businesses.

The first three tours will kick off June 23 in Round Hill, Middleburg and Purcellville with precise dates to be announced shortly. These walking tours will outline management and technical assistance, and other information necessary to help small businesses gain access to both credit and capital.

In this way, the SBA will be confident that all businesses that meet the requirements understand how to use these resources to better serve their customers, enlarge their markets and increase revenue and profit.

Customized information for individuals who wish to start businesses and or create home-based business ventures will also be available.

Both the SBA and Main Street Loudoun provide variety of services to help small businesses start, prosper and grow.

SBA Services
The SBA, offers existing and prospective small businesses technical and management assistance and access to credit and capital for start-ups, expansions, and home-based business ventures.

The WMADO Loudoun County, VA team is targeting viable small businesses that have real potential, but cannot qualify for loans from traditional sources, to offer and administer the 504 and 7(a) 'loan guarantee programs. The 504 loan program provides long-term fixed-rate, financing for acquisition and/or renovation of capital assets including land, buildings and equipment. The 7(a) eligibility requirements and credit criteria are very broad in order to accommodate a wide range of financing needs. The loan proceeds can be used for: construction, renovation or leasehold improvements, machinery or equipment purchases, fixtures, inventory and working capital.

Main Street Services
Main Street Loudoun, housed in the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, helps business grow and prosper in Loudoun's historic towns and villages using the successful National Main Street Program.

Since 1980, the Main Street Program has been used in over 1,700 U. S. communities, resulting in over $17 billion in public and private reinvestment in Main Streets, over 57,000 new net businesses, over 230,000 new net jobs and over 93,000 building rehabilitations.

Main Street Loudoun helps businesses with the licensing and permitting process, commercial real estate sales and leasing information, business planning resources, demographic and economic data and referrals to other sources of business assistance.

Businesses seeking additional information about the "road tour," or SBA and Main Street Loudoun services should contact Georgeanna Emery at georgeanna.emery@sba.gov or 202-606-4000 x206, and Main Street Loudoun Coordinator Martha Mason Semmes at info@mainstreetloudoun.org or 703-737-8386 to schedule a personal appointment.