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Housing &
Community | Real Life Stories « Banking On Business»
Banking On Business Success Stories
Renovation Creates "EDGE"
for Growth, Expansion
“Sometimes businesses in low-income
neighborhoods need creative financing to help make the
financing work. With the help of the FHLBank’s
Banking On Business program, financial institutions
can have a measurable impact on local communities like
the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh. When businesses
thrive and jobs are stable, and communities become stronger
and more vibrant, we all benefit.”
— Cathy Niederberger, senior vice president
and manager of community development, PNC Bank, NA
With more than 25
years of combined architectural experience, Dutch MacDonald
and Gary Carlough, co-owners of EDGE studio, have established
a niche as an innovative architecture and communication
design firm in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2001, Dutch and Gary
reached the point that, to grow the business and make
it more efficient, they needed additional office space.
Their idea: purchase an old building on Penn Avenue
in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh and renovate
it into new offices.
When Dutch and Gary went to their local branch of PNC
Bank, thy learned that, although they were valued customers
and their business was financially sound, their loan-to-value
and debt coverage ratio were not in compliance. That’s
where the FHLBank Pittsburgh’s Banking On Business
program came in. The BOB program supplied more than
$200,000 in funding to make the deal bankable. EDGE
studio is now thriving in its new home. The expansion
preserved eight good, full-time jobs and has, so far,
created eight new ones for local residents.
The EDGE studio expansion is one part of a comprehensive
development plan in the Garfield neighborhood. The once-abandoned
Penn Avenue business district has given life to more
than 30 new businesses — nonprofits, theater companies,
art galleries, retail firms, service companies —
finding new homes there since 1985. The development
effort includes bold new construction and the preservation
of existing housing stock as well. The Banking On Business
program is ideal for helping to revive distressed neighborhoods
in towns and urban areas all across the region.
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