Jul. 9—LIMA — Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague visited Lima on Friday to speak with the Allen County Chamber of Commerce about ways the state is helping to spur economic growth in the region.

Sprague visited Central District to chat with small business owners. Introduced at the press conference by Jed Metzger, Allen County Chamber of Commerce President, Sprague made a visit to discover more about the plans for economic development in the city of Lima.

"I wanted to talk with small businesses today about our Linked Deposit Programs and the way the Treasurer's Office can help them as a small business by working with the local financial institutions to lower the cost of their loans," said Sprague. "The hard part is coming up with the idea. The easy part is going to a banker to get the numbers to work."

The state Treasurer's Office has many programs designated to help provide not only financial literacy but ways of provision to kickstart a small business. Treasurer Sprague recently created a new program called Ohio Gains. This program was created to start a new investment strategy.

"You get a loan from your local lending institution and we will lower the interest rate on your loan by using our balance sheet," said Sprague. "Hopefully, you will use that loan to start your business, invest in your community and make things better here in Lima."

Jerome O'Neal, Central District Partner was excited to have Treasurer Sprague visit the Central District and see the impact it will have on the community.

"The Ohio Treasurer's Office is committed to improving the economic environment that allows small businesses to grow and become successful in the State of Ohio," said O'Neal. "Much of this improvement comes from initiatives put out by the State Treasurer's Office."

"It (the Central District) is pretty exciting because I live in Findlay and for a long period of time I have been coming to Lima," said Sprague. "So I am excited to see this part of Lima rejuvenate and regain some of its former glory. I think it reflects an inflection point not just for the community but I think the bigger story about where we are going as a state in Ohio. A lot of our story has been 'well, we're moving the plant to Mexico or China'. I think it is an exciting representation of the story of our future."

The Treasurer hopes to continue to bring awareness to local and state programs that small businesses have available to them.

For more about financial literacy and the State Treasurer's Office visit tos.ohio.gov.

For more information on small business loans visit yourstatebank.com.