Port, National City partner on gap financing program

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority and National City Bank have announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to provide gap financing for small, minority-owned, and women-owned (SBE, MBE, WBE) businesses participating in brownfield development projects in the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Because brownfield projects are often funded by public dollars that have lengthy disbursement cycles, smaller firms without large cash flows or extended lines of credit can
often be effectively shut out of the bidding.

National City's participation will provide these firms with funds from which they can draw until the public money becomes available.

"This agreement will encourage some of the smaller firms to take part in our projects," Port Authority president Kim Satzger says.  "The issues with slow reimbursement have now been addressed."

The new program takes effect immediately.

Brownfield remediation and reclamation is one of the Port Authority's core functions.

In an effort to encourage wealth creation among all segments of the population, the Port Authority has established and Economic Inclusion policy and maintains a database of over 500 SBE, MBE and WBE suppliers.

They also work closely with the South Central Ohio Minority Business Council, Commercial Real Estate Women, the Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce, and the Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA.

Of all dollars contracted by the Port Authority since 2001, the policy resulted in 33 percent participation by SBE, 26 percent by MBE and 8 percent by WBE.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Kim Satzger, president, Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority
Photography by Scott Beseler