Entrepreneurs along the region’s trails and rivers have reported that the pandemic cost them some customers, but brought them new ones, including demographics they hadn’t seen before. People hungry to get out of the house turned to trails because they were amenities that couldn’t be locked down or subjected to occupancy limits. Click here to learn more about Bright Morning … Continue reading
The Progress Fund Stories
Restaurant Evolutions
Restaurants are a cornerstone of the tourism economy, a key focus of The Progress Fund since its inception in 1997. Investments in restaurants have transformed southwestern Pennsylvania into a food destination. The pandemic infected nearly every business, but restaurants face particularly stark prognoses. Click here to learn more about The Trailside Cafe, Piazza Talarico and The Eastwood Inn that cooked … Continue reading
Booze n’ Cups
“Makers” create great things with their hands. But creative thinking by Red Pump Spirits and American Mug & Stein enabled them to shift gears during the pandemic and thrive. Their resilience is a great lesson in small business management. It’s worth reading at NEXTpittsburgh.
Family Vacation Time
As the old saying goes…“A family that travels together stays together.” In the case of the Kruse family, instead of traveling, they are buying vacation homes in the Laurel Highlands and giving other families great places to stay-and-play. Their Mountain Getaways put you in the center of the best of what the Laurel Highlands has to offer. The Progress Fund … Continue reading
You deserve the “Best”!
May we suggest that you reward yourself for all your troubles in 2020 with a taste of Pittsburgh’s BEST. Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream and Riley’s Pour House are recent winners in the City Paper’s 2020 Reader Poll. You deserve some of their goodness for all you’ve gone through in 2020. Yes, both of these “Winners” are borrowers of The Progress … Continue reading
Hazelwood will once again have a brewery times 3
Our Hazelwood Project made the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Saturday, August 15th. Bob Batz, the author of the article, nicely covered the history of the brewery and our redevelopment effort. Read the PDF here. It begins in the lower left corner of the page.
The Progress Fund helps borrower with state loan
Ben Peoples Industries was recently featured in a Tribune-Review article “State loans survival money to some hard-hit businesses” published on Friday, May 15, 2020. Read the full story.
Monday Briefing on COVID-19 Response Loans
The Progress Fund remains open for business, of course with precautions, due to our status as a Life-Sustaining business providing non-depository financial services to small businesses. This has enabled us to operate at full-throttle and help our borrowers access loans from both the new Paycheck Protection Program from SBA and the COVID-19 Working Capital Access program (now closed to new … Continue reading
Good News for Small Business
Monday Morning update on Paycheck Protection Program… Before the SBA opened the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) just this past Friday, program details were few and changing by the hour. Small business owners were trying to understand, and our staff were getting ready. The purpose of this email is to let you know that the PPP application process is working for … Continue reading
April Relief Payment
The Progress Fund was mentioned in the Tribune-Review article “Allegheny, Westmoreland groups offer help to region’s small businesses during tough time” published on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Read the full story.