Minority Entrepreneur To Open Second Location With Additional Business Funding Provided By Angelo Sferrazza, Cincinnati, Ohio, President, CEO, The IL Bridge Fund

One of The IL Bridge Fund's minority clients, is announcing the Grand Opening of a Second Business Location in Southwestern Ohio. Our client, Mr. Demetrious, has successfully gone from an employee to business owner, helped by funding and financial mentoring from Angelo Sferrazza, Cincinnati, Ohio, President, The IL Bridge Fund. His success is aided by a unique entertainment concept. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) March 04, 2011 - Given the economic choices available to many American workers today, many are choosing self employment as a way to control their future. For Ethnic minorities, starting their own businesses is a natural alternative to bumping up against the glass ceiling and fighting workplace discrimination. According to the 2002 Census Survey of Business Owners, the number of Minority Owned Businesses grew 31% between 2002 and 1997 compared to 13% growth for non-minority businesses. In 1982, Ethnic minorities owned fewer than 7% of all companies in the U.S. By 2002, this percentage had grown to 18%. The statistics might not be quite as positive today because of one major roadblock--funding.

Access to the funding needed to start a business is almost always an issue, especially with those owned by African, Hispanic (Latino), or Asian Americans, who are more likely to lack the financial resources necessary to achieve adequate capitalization. A 2000 report published by the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency concludes that the growth of Minority Business Enterprises (MBE or MWBE) has contributed to the strong growth of the U.S. economy, but that growth cannot continue without removing capital formation constraints.

To assist the minority entrepreneur, The IL Bridge Fund has lending programs for those who desire to be business owners. Most recently, a current client of The IL Bridge Fund referred Mr. Demetrious of Southwestern Ohio to Angelo Sferrazza, President, The IL Bridge Fund to help him develop a Business Plan for Success and find funding.

When Mr. Demetrious first heard about this program from The IL Bridge Fund he was training as a barber helping to pay for his schooling by working at a local sports bar. At the time the sports bar was experiencing declining revenue and Mr. Demetrious was going to be laid off. He started thinking about buying the business, but had no idea how to finance it. However, Mr. Demetrious not only needed funding, he needed a 'big idea' to rebuild the business revenue. That's when he realized that the men and women visiting the location were always dressed in their finest and groomed to impress anyone they might meet. So Mr. Demetrious created a unique personal grooming and entertainment concept--a one-stop shop for looking your best before you meet friends and have fun at the sports bar that would now feature a restaurant as part of the facilities, in addition to live music.

"After meeting with this budding business owner, and helping revise the business plan and negotiate terms for the acquisition, I felt there was a real chance for him to succeed. This is a great example of how bridge funding can help an individual with the dream of owning his owning and expanding a small business," says Mr. Sferrazza.

Within the space of a few years of being mentored by Mr. Sferrazza and the professionals at The IL Bridge Fund this local Ohio businessman has created a unique community venue with the One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars in initial funding in participation with a third party lender we extended Mr. Demetrious to help him purchase and reinvigorate an existing business in 2009. The business has proved so successful that The IL Bridge Fund recently offered him additional funding of over Two Hundred Thousand Dollars to open a second location, celebrating a Grand Opening this week. Both locations will create new jobs in Ohio that will in turn impact the economic development of the local communities.

"This is why the 'Bridge Lending Programs" were developed," says Angelo, "to supply 'short-term' financing for those businesses who need more timely funding and validation of their business model."

Angelo Sferrazza created the IL Bridge Fund in 2009. The IL Bridge Fund, an Ohio Limited Liability Company, is the funding source for Mid-market Emerging and Existing Companies and Real Estate Investors that have valuable marketable assets that can be used to secure an initial bridge loan (short-term). This approach and overall goal of The Bridge Funding Program is to provide the time needed for companies to secure more permanent funding from traditional lenders (Banks), or investment organizations. This is based on allowing companies the time to validate their businesses. The IL Bridge Fund has funded millions of dollars in transactions to date.

http://www.theilbridgefund.com

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