Program uses county funds to encourage local lending

17 July 2010

by: Daniel Smith | YourHub.com

Article Contributed on: 7/15/2010 8:59:05 AM

LITTLETON -- An Arapahoe County investment partnership with local banks is helping existing small-to-medium-sized businesses grow in spite of the continued economic doldrums.

Treasurer Doug Milliken initiated the concept more than a year ago. It involves investing county funds in certificates of deposits at a half dozen local banks that promise to provide loans to county businesses at lower than market rates.

"In talking to businesses in the county, I found out that a lot of credit-worthy businesses couldn't get loans," he said. "It's part of the credit crunch, and partly the banks and partly the regulators of the banks and I thought I should do something here to solve that and get some money to businesses."

One of the companies helped by the program is IE Electric of Centennial.

President Gery Noonan said he formed the company with a partner and had about 15 employees originally, shrinking to about seven after the start of the economic downturn. Since the loan, he's been able to add eight employees.

"... Having that additional funding available has really made a difference for us - it allowed us to take a few jobs that we weren't sure we could take, and a few others came in after that, so we've been very fortunate the past few months," Noonan said.

With the help of the county program and a long-standing relationship with Colorado Business Bank, he was able to take advantage of the investment money available to help local businesses grow.

The line of credit of about $200,000 went mostly for personnel and some additional tools, Noonan said, and he now has an easier time paying bills.

"Easing up the banking regulations, I think, is going to help everybody," he said. "If we can get more money out there, it's going to put a lot more people back to work."

Milliken said he usually deposits money in the bank with an agreement that it will be made available to businesses looking to expand, or for continued operations.

"These are the people to who need the money," Milliken said. "They (banks) are closer to the ground and use their judgment on what is a safe investment and they take all the risk."

Milliken said there is no risk to the county with the money invested in the banks, and he's received no negative reaction from bankers either -- though some are still very conservative about making loans.

"I hope to put about $40 million by the end of the year," he said, noting current investments total about $25 million.

Milliken said it's rewarding to see positive ripples in a local economy stimulated by the investments.

"... This is why I wanted to do this -- it's gratifying to hear people are getting jobs and businesses can thrive ... it's the kind of really focused, local stimulus that helps directly the people who the money belongs to, in a sense."

For more information about the program, call the Treasurer's Office at 303-795-4550 or go to co.arapahoe.co.us.

Daniel Smith: 303-954-2671 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it