Invest Atlanta Doubles Down on Commitment to Economic Growth and Business Stability – Lonnie Saboor & Melody Echols

Transcription:

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Welcome to you both for joining me on the Atlanta Small Business Show.

Lonnie Saboor:
Thank you, Jim.

Melody Echols:
Thank you so much.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Lonnie, let’s jump right in and start with you. For those business owners and entrepreneurs who may be unfamiliar with the organization. Tell us about Invest Atlanta and how the organization is assisting businesses right here in Atlanta.

Lonnie Saboor:
Yeah. Invest Atlanta’s the City of Atlanta’s economic development arm. We were formed by the City of Atlanta, and is actually chaired by whoever the mayor of the City of Atlanta is. And part of our development is not just really dealing with small businesses, but dealing with housing development, helping people getting to good home development projects, low-income and that sort of thing. So it’s kind of a cross-section organization, of not just dealing with small business, but also dealing with housing finance, which is a critical part of what we need to have in City of Atlanta.

Lonnie Saboor:
With our base really being more along the line of equity, making sure that everybody has an opportunity to live in Atlanta, but also to get financing for their business in Atlanta, no matter if it’s a startup or an existing company. We’ve been doing that for a number of years. I’ve been doing this actually, June will be 43 years, Jim, I’ve been doing this-

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow.

Lonnie Saboor:
… for the City of Atlanta. I’ve worked with every mayor, going back to Maynard Jackson.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Oh my gosh. Wow.

Lonnie Saboor:
So have I seen a lot in, we can talk about a little later on, but I think one of the critical things about Invest Atlanta and working with small businesses is that we realize that small businesses need help, especially during this pandemic. And there’s a need for us to be able to be at the forefront of that. And that’s one thing that we’ve been doing for a number of years.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure. Wow, that’s fantastic. Congratulations on all your success and the longevity. I mean, we got to go to dinner one night because, man, I’d love to pick your brain about all that’s happening and all that you have seen. So you are a wealth of knowledge there.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Melody, let me ask you, what are the most common loans and grants being applied for today through the organization?

Melody Echols:
Sure. There’s a lot of COVID relief funding out there across the nation, and the City of Atlanta was fortunate enough to receive some of that. So COVID relief funding is one, and we can talk more about it throughout. But we have our Resurgence Grant Fund, and it’s covering costs associated with COVID to help small businesses surviving throughout this pandemic.

Melody Echols:
Invest atlanta has several other financing tools in other departments. And Lonnie, specifically, manages several different loan programs designed for small businesses that I’d love for him to speak to as well because he’s the expert on that one.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure. Go ahead, Lonnie.

Lonnie Saboor:
Oh yeah, no problem. And so in terms of small businesses, we’ve got, really you’ve got about 12 programs right now to assist small businesses all over the City of Atlanta.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow.

Lonnie Saboor:
And broken up, they really fit different kind of categories, startup companies, companies trying to expand, companies, trying to move into the city for the first time in terms of their operation. And we’ve been blessed to be able to assist companies with a series of loans that allow them to get financing, normally between I’d say about $10,000 to a $100,000 in financing throughout the City of Atlanta. And we just recently, you might have heard, we’ve got some additional money coming in through some money we’re getting from United Way. In June, we get an additional $5 million to establish an entirely new program.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow.

Lonnie Saboor:
And that’s going to be spread over a three-year period of businesses located in the City of Atlanta. So we’ve been pretty much at the cutting edge. I remember when the pandemic first hit, we came up, to my knowledge, with the first COVID-19 revolving loan fund in the nation.

Lonnie Saboor:
And we got calls from all over the country about how did we do it, because the Cares Act hadn’t even came out yet. So the peeps, they were trying to figure out, “What can we do? How can we assist these business … Businesses that really suffering right now.” And because we’ve been doing this for decades here in Atlanta, so I was really more than happy to share that information with a lot of colleagues and cities around the country.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure, sure. Let me ask you this. We talked a lot about COVID and what have you, but is it just if a business was negatively impacted by COVID? Or are the funds available for businesses that weren’t necessarily impacted, but want to grow their business?

Lonnie Saboor:
Yeah. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been able to get financing just for COVID-related businesses of course. But our stack pile is actually available to any business.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.

Lonnie Saboor:
Any business, no matter whether they are and that sort of thing. The financing we’re getting from the federal government, is tied directly to COVID-19 impact. And so we’re watching that, but also, we’ve also worked with companies … And some companies are actually maybe able to make, what’s known the favorite word right now, is pivot. They’ve pivoted to, in some cases, more income than they ever had before.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right.

Lonnie Saboor:
And on the flip side of that, you got some businesses who just couldn’t make it go.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah, yeah.

Lonnie Saboor:
We’re there to fill the gap, help those businesses who trying to survive, but also to help you expand and grow. One of our major clients for example, we’ve been able to help them with three different business formations in terms of their escalation.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow.

Lonnie Saboor:
They made some adjustments during the pandemic. We were able to help them out with that, but they never had to close their doors. And so that’s one of the things we will always look for in terms of just helping businesses in the City of Atlanta, is to keep their doors open.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah.

Lonnie Saboor:
We ask two things of you, stay in business and pay us back so you can help us pay it forward.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right. And Melody, these funds are for businesses and for those that do business here in the City of Atlanta. If I’m in Alpharetta or if I’m in Norcross or Peachtree City, I’m not eligible for that, right, or am I?

Melody Echols:
That’s correct, yeah. We are restricted by City of Atlanta boundaries. The grant fund, the Resurgence Grant Fund, is open to small businesses and nonprofits that are located within the city. There’s no restriction on how long you’ve been in business or anything like that. But as long as you have your business license, you’re located within the City of Atlanta boundaries, then yes, you are eligible. But we are not unfortunately able to get funds out to businesses outside of the city.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay. And what about for startups? What about somebody comes to you and says, “I’ve got a great idea and I want to start a business.” That’s okay too, right, it doesn’t have to be an existing business?

Melody Echols:
Absolutely, yes.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.

Melody Echols:
We actually have dedicated staff on our economic development teams, specifically working with entrepreneurs, working with innovation, and just dedicated to helping startups.

Melody Echols:
We want to see that startup talent in Atlanta stay in Atlanta so we have tools to help them as well. And specifically for our grant funding, we’re able to fund startups as well with that. Again, we recognize that there’s talent in Atlanta and we want to keep them in Atlanta, so we are here to help those.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right. Right. What does the application process typically look like, Melody, to get a loan or a grant with Invest Atlanta? And then how long is the process? If I called you today and met with you, when am I realizing those funds?

Melody Echols:
Sure. For our small business loans ,and Lonnie can speak to a little bit more, but we have, it’s all online. There’s a workshop that we ask our businesses to participate in prior to applying, just so that they’re aware with all of the documentation that they’ll need to provide and just to ensure that they are supported in that way, the application’s all online.

Melody Echols:
Similarly for our grant funding, there’s a link on Invest Atlanta’s website that brings you right to the application. I would say for, I can speak to the grant funds, our application is open for two full months. And then once all applications are submitted, I would say probably three to six months afterwards would be the review process, depending on the volume of applications we receive. Lonnie, I don’t know if you want to speak specifically to your loan programs on timeline for that?

Lonnie Saboor:
Yeah, yeah. I would say, just in terms of timeline for our loan programs, it’s pretty much similar what Melody just said. In a loan case we’ll look … Now let me start off first with my presentation. I had a webinar about this, about 40-minute webinar online. where I walk you through the whole application process.

Melody Echols:
Okay.

Lonnie Saboor:
I answer questions for you and that sort of thing. That’s all part of what we are doing. And then the same time, we’re in a position to actually be able to assist you with knowing exactly what the process. And now normally it takes, I’d say once you get approved, it probably takes within maybe a month, month and a half, no longer than two months to actually get the funds that you have applied for.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Oh, so it’s a relatively quick turnaround. I mean, this isn’t something that you’ve got to be enrolled in a program for six months or a year before you realize the funds.

Lonnie Saboor:
Right. Exactly, exactly. We encourage people to give us a try. Go ahead to our website, apply for financing. And we’re here to work with you to make your dream become a reality.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure, sure. And are there separate funds or money set aside for female-owned businesses or Black-owned businesses or Hispanic or anything like that, or does it just not matter?

Lonnie Saboor:
It doesn’t even matter as matter of fact, equity is at the core foundation of Invest Atlanta right now.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.

Lonnie Saboor:
We don’t care what your race is now, nationality. Whoever you are, if you’re a person that has a City of Atlanta business license, we are here to help you, no matter what your personal situation might be. And that’s the way our programs were designed to be able to do that for decades.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow. That’s fantastic. For entrepreneurs out there and wantrepreneurs, those that want to open up a business, there’s no better time than right now to do that. Because with these two individuals telling you, the money is there. I mean, it’s just a question of filling out the application, and chances are you’re going to get the monies that you need to start your business or grow your business, and right here in Atlanta. And that’s the great news.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
And let me ask you this. If I’m a business owner and I’ve been in business for six months or a year or whatever the case might be, and I need funds to grow or take my business to the next level, or maybe I just need the funds to survive, but my credit’s not good or isn’t that great. Am I still eligible or do I need A1 credit?

Lonnie Saboor:
Right. Part of what I do, we actually meet with you as a prospect. And you tell me, “Well, Lonnie, my credit score’s only like 550 or 560, and I’ve been turned down by so many institutions.” I said, “Well, let me ask you, what happened? What was going on?” We actually give us just a short paragraph or two explaining what might have transpired.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.

Lonnie Saboor:
And so when we take the deal before our credit approves all of our loans, I also add that information to that. So that might be illness, you might have lost a job.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yep.

Lonnie Saboor:
Might have been divorce, a lot of things happen. So we factor that in to the overall picture, and we’ve been able to be successful in helping a lot of people with low credit scores.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s great. So you don’t just stop at the score and say-

Lonnie Saboor:
We don’t stop at the score.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
… “No, you got to be a 720 or a 680,” or whatever.

Lonnie Saboor:
But we don’t say, “You got to have a 650. Anything below a 650 is out the door.” No, we want to go into what happened. And we’ve been successful in actually working with people with those low credit scores who amaze me too.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah.

Lonnie Saboor:
They’ve been doing exceptional. All they needed was, they say, a hand up and not a hand down. And then we see ourselves as being able to provide that opportunity for them.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah, that’s fantastic. As I understand, the applications are open March one for Invest Atlanta’s Resurgence Grant Fund. Melody, tell us about the fund and who’s eligible for that?

Melody Echols:
Yeah, absolutely. The purpose of the Resurgence Grant Fund is to use federal COVID relief funding under the American Rescue Plan Act to provide reimbursable grants to small businesses and nonprofits throughout the city. Again, within City of Atlanta limits. Invest Atlanta in the city, we acknowledge the financial impact that our small businesses and nonprofits have faced over the couple of years due to COVID. And our intention really is to use these funds to help alleviate some of that burden.

Melody Echols:
As I mentioned, the fund provides reimbursable grants up to $40,000. Can reimburse necessary expenditures incurred by businesses and nonprofits as of March 3rd, 2021 and later. And the fund is open to any for-profit or non-profit small business located within the city, as long as they have their 2022 City of Atlanta business license or their letter of good standing. And as long as they’ve had less than 250 employees as of December 31st, 2021.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay. This really is designed for those small business owners doing business in Atlanta. You’re not giving money or grants to companies that are bringing in millions and millions of dollars with 500 employees or better.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Again, for the people that are listening to us, have this discussion that either want to start a small business or grow your small business in Atlanta, this is for you. So don’t think, “Well, we’re not big enough, or we don’t have enough money or credit’s not good.” We just checked all those boxes. You should be talking to these people about money to grow your business or to get into business, for sure. So this has been kind of the wake-up call you’ve been looking for here.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
From your perspective, what type of an impact do these loans and grants have on Atlanta’s economy overall? And I’ll give that first to you Lonnie, and then I’d like to get Melody’s take on that as well.

Lonnie Saboor:
Yeah, I think it’s been great. I mean, we look at our KPIs and we look at what we’re doing in terms of the businesses being successful. And I’m just happy to report that so far, the vast majority of all the business that we’ve funded have actually gotten financing from us, and to actually scale and scale it up in terms of what they had been able to do and accomplish.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s great.

Lonnie Saboor:
In a lot of cases, the initial money we gave them were able to help them sustain the operation, but they took it upon themselves to also grow and expand as well.

Lonnie Saboor:
We’ve been seeing some fabulous results from the people we finance and people thank us for being able to be there, be there first to help them grow and expand their business. And really look at being able to grow and expand it in terms of their future and also their staffing possibilities.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah, for sure. And, Melody, what’s your take on the impact it’s had?

Melody Echols:
Yeah, absolutely. I would say that, especially the Resurgence Grant Funding has made a tremendous impact on Atlanta’s economy. Lonnie mentioned KPIs. We do like to keep track of KPIs before, during, and after a program, just to ensure that we are meeting those goals and making that impact.

Melody Echols:
We issued a survey to our Resurgence Grant Fund recipients after about a year that funds were dispersed in the first round in 2020. And based on the responses we received, we can gladly report that our recipients have been able to employ over 680 new hires, and have been able to retain almost 2,000 existing employees, just over the course of year during COVID.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah. You’re doing some really great work, that is for sure. Much needed. And so let me ask you this, for those business owners and entrepreneurs who are just starting out, what’s your recommended first step. To go online or what should they do?

Melody Echols:
Yeah, absolutely. Go online, visit Invest Atlanta’s website, subscribe to our newsletter. We’re also active on social media, and we’re here to help. And anyone at Invest Atlanta is well versed enough throughout the organization to know who to point you to, depending on what you’re looking for.

Melody Echols:
We have chat feature online. We have email, a customer service email address online that you can reach out to us. And we have dedicated staff specifically to support and help you get pointed in the right direction. And there’s just tons of information online—

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s great. We’re showing all the information right now on the screen. For those viewers that are interested in learning more and taking your business to the next level or getting in business, just starting out, the money is there. And explore this, and it sounds to me like you don’t need really great credit. You got to have a good idea. You got to maybe attend their seminars, which is great.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
I’ve been involved myself with programs like this and they are phenomenal. You will learn so much about business in general. You don’t want to spend your money, or anyone else’s money for that matter, unless you know what you’re doing. And that’s where these types of programs really can lend such knowledge, such support, as you make that first step into business. And it’s so great that we’ve got programs like this here in Atlanta.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Lonnie, let me ask you this. Have you seen anything like what we’ve gone through here in the last two years in your 42 years doing this?

Lonnie Saboor:
I was at a presentation at the APEX Museum yesterday, as a matter of fact. And what I told them was that I’ve never seen nothing like this.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah.

Lonnie Saboor:
I mean, people talk about for the minority community reparations and that sort of thing. I tell them, I said, “2020, 2021 and 2022. Unheard of.” I mean, everybody is trying to help people. Everybody is trying to help, especially minority groups.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure.

Lonnie Saboor:
People who’ve been disenfranchised, that sort of thing. It’s never been like this before, Jim, I tell you. I mean, even in terms of the PPP coming out, the SBA financing, low interest rates. I mean, 1% SBA loans.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah, it’s crazy.

Lonnie Saboor:
I don’t know, deferments. And we came out, our program was deferred for a year coming out.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow.

Lonnie Saboor:
Then it was to converted to a grant later on. But I’m saying that, I mean, this, you never … I mean, this is a new financial language we’re having right now during this pandemic. It wasn’t available. It was always something that people were crying for and crying to get, never got it. And now they got it. And I always tell people, “Always, just do the right thing.”

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah.

Lonnie Saboor:
If you get financing, be it PPP, be it through Invest Atlanta, just make sure that you help us pass it forward by going ahead, doing the right thing. And staying out of trouble, number more. And also, just go ahead and treat your business the way it needs to be treated because you have a large investment to make in the future of Atlanta.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah, absolutely. There’s no question about it. Well, Lonnie Saboor and Melody Echols with Invest Atlanta. An organization that’s doing great work for small business owners, entrepreneurs, those that want to get into business. This is your first … Your one click away from getting all the information. This is the first best step you can make to explore this. And it’s right here in Atlanta, and that’s what we’re all about here at the Atlanta Small Business Show, bringing you solutions like this and a way to move forward.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
And so, folks, I want to thank you so much for joining us today. I know that our subscribers and viewers got a lot out of your visit with us, so thanks so much.