Erie leaders gathered Friday to announce a $95,000 loan through the Main Street Impact Fund.
The funding, backed by a $1 million investment by the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) in partnership with the Erie County Redevelopment Authority, will help EFI Connection invest in new equipment.
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“We’ve been talking off and on for years about how they can support our efforts. He came to us with the idea of capitalizing a loan fund, and we jumped on the opportunity,” Tina Mengine, CEO of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority, said.
The collaboration, leaders said, is key to supporting small manufacturers and driving long-term economic growth across the region.
“For every dollar invested in manufacturing, there’s about $3 return on investment. So, this equipment should bring efficiency, it should create jobs, and should create significant economic impact for our region. Along with the others that will come later on,” Perry Wood, the executive director for ECGRA, said.
Through this partnership, the money that has been granted to EFI has allowed them to streamline the process and be more efficient.
“Something like a pigtail that we sell a lot of throughout the year, we were able to process all of the wire within a couple of days, whereas previously it would have taken us like a week to process all the wire.” Cassandra Hooks, operations coordinator for EFI Connection, said.
Leaders said investments like this not only help individual businesses grow, but also support hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in economic impact across Erie County.
Both authorities said they hope to continue this partnership with more loans distributed to local businesses in the future.
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