CIC discusses possible revolving business loan program

BY PATRICK LANGLEY

The Tipp City Community Investment Corporation (CIC), whose goal is to support Tipp City’s business community, met at the Tipp Government Center on Tuesday, January 9.

At the meeting City Manager Tim Eggleston proposed that the CIC begin offering, to Tipp businesses, small loans up to around $40,000 at attractive lending rates.

Eggleston explained that the loans could help Tipp businesses with items such as signs and other small upgrades. The income from the lending rates on the loans would assist the CIC with operating expenses. Eggleston said he would gather more information, develop eligibility criteria for businesses seeking loans, and work toward presenting his findings at the February CIC meeting.

Steve Staub of Staub Manufacturing Solutions, a Tipp City resident and visitor at the meeting, suggested to the CIC that the east end of the existing Tipp Plaza building could be renovated, with minimal effort, into a convention center or event center. Staub noted that there are few convention centers in the area, and he believed the basic structure for one is already in place at the Plaza.

Staub suggested a convention center would bring thousands of people to Tipp City, on a regular basis, to eat, sleep, and visit businesses in uptown and downtown, and these visitors would realize that Tipp is a great place to live.