By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. — At the time Tad Varga – one of the co-owners of Three Birds Casual, a manufacturer and distributor of teak furniture – started business in his garage with his wife and brother-in-law, all he knew was he liked the look and feel of teak.

That wasn’t enough. Thanks to the Whitley County Economic Development Corp.’s (WCEDC) Small Business and Entrepreneurship Initiative, which provides resources for pre-startup and growing businesses in Whitley County by combining the Kauffman Institute’s FastTrac New Ventures business planning course, Varga and his partners took a second look at their plans.

“FastTrac made us look at things we’d never considered,” he said. “It was extremely beneficial.”

While Varga’s business now has permanent showrooms in Chicago and Atlanta, a colorful catalog and customers around the world, he would like to add one or two new employees to his Columbia City base, but doesn’t feel he can afford them right now. Currently he hires four in the United States and seven in Indonesia.

It was entrepreneurs such as Varga who prompted USDA Rural Development to present a $74,250 Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise Grant last week to the WCEDC to establish a revolving loan fund as an incentive for business expansion, job retention and creation and private investment.

Limited to rural areas of Indiana (“rural” is defined as any area other than a city or town that has a population of over 50,000), guidelines further stipulate at least 51 percent of the outstanding interest in any project must have membership or be owned by U.S. citizens or resident aliens.

Phil Lehmkuhler, Rural Development Indiana state director, said, “The funding represents ongoing efforts to create economic and job opportunities in rural areas by ensuring that strategic investments are made in our small towns and cities. Rural businesses drive community revitalization by providing products and services to local residents, as well as throughout the country and world. Projects like these spur important economic development and strengthen communities across Indiana.”

While the original grant does not have to be repaid to USDA, loans made from it must be repaid, according to Alan Tio, WCEDC director, who described the revolving loan fund as “great.

“Today’s announcement is a significant milestone in our efforts to expand the EDC’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Initiative,” Tio said. “In addition to delivering customized business coaching and mentoring, and helping clients meet their space needs, we can now provide access to a source of financial capital.”

Additional details is available at www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_rebeg.html