Finding funds with the chamber
By: Victoria Kemper, Democrat News
Victoria Kemper, Democrat News
First State Community Bank Vice President and Loan Officer Mindi Montgomery speaks to members of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce during its monthly luncheon, Sept. 7.
The Madison County Chamber of Commerce met for its monthly luncheon, Sept. 7.
Mindi Montgomery, Vice President and Loan Officer at First State Community Bank, spoke to the group about different funding options available.
She said, from large expansion loans to small start up loans FSCB has the ability to work with all sizes of needs.
Montgomery said, there are many types of loans depending on what is the best fit for each individual business, such as, real estate purchases or refinancing, commercial lines of credit, commercial term loans, USDA loans, SBA loans, government loans, and agricultural loans.
“You’ll notice there are a lot of things that aren’t as straightforward, and with those we try to be as creative as we can and think outside the box to help out those customers,” Montgomery said. “ Agricultural life, which a lot of you live, think about as commercial and that that is their business. We do crops, livestock, land and equipment.”
Montgomery said, there are ways to work with clients and gave an example of a farmer who needs a loan for livestock or crops. She said, in some situations, those payments can be deferred until the crops or livestock are sold at market.
“We are a small enough bank that we are able to make our own decisions but large enough that we have the backing, the funding and the access to the experts that we need to help implement those and be a little more creative on a personal level,” Montgomery said.
When opened up for questions, one individual asked if the bank could assist with loans regarding food trucks, cottage homes, or just start-up costs.
“Again, with our size, we’re able to do the smallest of small loans and we have people just needing less than $5,000 and are trying to get something started,” Montgomery said. “But we also have several million dollars that are on the books and because of our size, we have the ability to facilitate that. So yeah, I mean those (smaller loans) are probably some of our favorites to work with. We have a lot of customers that we’ve been able to help at the beginning and then watch them grow.”
After Montgomery finished answering questions, MCCC Executive Director Tessa Rehkop updated the group on a few things before adjourning the meeting.
Rehkop said she was happy to report the Historic Day at the Square event made about $20,000, and that is in addition to the $2,000 during the truck pull beer garden. She said, timing could not be more perfect as, last week, a grant was announced by the Missouri Department of Economic Development which is specifically for downtown revitalization.
“It’s a lot of money,” Rehkop said. “It’s actually $75,000 per business. It does have a match of 20%. So we were thinking we will use the funds to help people with the match if we are awarded the grant. So we’ll definitely be applying for that.”
Rehkop said, some of the funds raised will be going toward a mural on the side of the library. The design will feature book spines with classic titles chosen by the Ozark Regional Library.
“Of course, we have other plans in mind such as more tables and chairs downtown, possible lighting, and the city is already working on increasing parking,” Rehkop said. “So we’ve got a lot of stuff going on. But I wanted to let you guys know about this because we kind of don’t want to spend that money yet so that we could use it for the match. We might be able to quadruple the funds, so yeah, that’s super exciting.”
Rehkop concluded the luncheon with an overview of some of the many events happening in Madison County over the next few months. For an up-to-date community calendar visit https://www.madisoncountycc.com/calendar.html
Upcoming Events:
5th Annual Madison County Chamber Banquet, 5 p.m., Sept. 14
Mineral Area Fine Arts Academy presents “Harvey” by Mary Chase, Sept. 14-16
5th Annual Ride to the Wall, 10 a.m., Sept. 16
Ribbon Cutting Extravaganzza, 11 a.m., Sept. 16
Blood Drive at Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy, 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sept. 22
Pioneer Days, Sept. 22-24
Truckin’ Tuesday, Sept. 26
Madison County Fair Oct. 6-7
Fredericktown R-I Homecoming Parade, 3 p.m., Oct. 8
Bulls, Barrels, and Bands, 7 p.m., Oct. 14
Monster Mash, Adult Trick or Treat, shopping event, 6 to 9 p.m., Oct. 20
Furever Paws and Claws Chili Cook Off, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m, Oct. 21
Freakytown, 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Oct. 28