Although legal in 34 States, the medical marijuana industry faces a significant hurdle to growth. Funding for the industry is scarce. Most commercial banks are limited by Federal regulations or too risk-adverse to enter the picture. The Progress Fund recently closed on a $700,000 loan with The Healing Center (THC) in Washington, PA to complete their permanent financing. We believe … Continue reading
PART SIX – Our entrepreneurial summer series has taken us to B&Bs, distilleries, trails, docks, restaurants, climbing gyms and ice cream shops.
If you’re pumped to take on your own business, then we’re thrilled.
If, on the other hand, we’ve got you pondering retirement, we get that, too. Either way, our sixth and final episode has exactly what you’re looking for. Continue reading
PART FIVE – We’re at that point in our entrepreneurial summer when the days are so long and bright that you’d almost think they’ll never end. When a small business owner finds that the line of customers just doesn’t end, it may be time to open a second location. In week five of our series, we’ll find out that doubling down can pay off big – but the days are long, and not always in a perfect way. Continue reading
PART FOUR – If you joined our entrepreneurial summer series during week three (we hit the rafts, bikes, canoes, kayaks), you may still be hungry. This week, we’ll share a booth with some of the most innovative restaurateurs in the region, where they’ll try to read the minds of the dining public – an exercise which might go better with a nice Moscato. Continue reading
Re-emerging returnable beer bottles
If you liked our email about the local craft beverage scene, you might be interested in Straub Brewery’s environmentally friendly packaging. Continue reading
PART THREE – Whether you joined our entrepreneurial summer series at a bed & breakfast (week one) or a distillery (week two), you know that change is a constant in small business. As a result, adaptation is a key phase in the entrepreneurial life cycle. Nowhere is that more true than along the trails and rivers, where consumer tastes shift almost as surely as weather changes. Continue reading
PART TWO – Our entrepreneurial summer series dawned last week with stories of the inspired women who run bed & breakfasts and vacation rentals along our region’s trails. Successful businesses usually have great stories – of innovation or tradition, local roots or international reach. Continue reading
PART ONE – Summer is make-or-break time for many of the small businesses in our towns, along the trails, and in the city’s most festive neighborhoods. This summer, many entrepreneurs are thinking big. For the next six weeks, The Progress Fund – which has helped 311 businesses over 21 years – is going to take you into the heat of an entrepreneurial summer. Continue reading
Gavin Archer and Dee Stephen, both trained archeologists and avid cyclists, wanted to create a business in Pennsylvania that incorporated the sport that they love. Continue reading
Tommy Medley and Amber Kunselman never predicted that customers would beat a path to their pastry cases. “I thought: We’re a little coffee shop in Greensburg, we won’t be that busy,” Tommy recounts. Continue reading
