$1 Million Loan to VEDC

The Valley Economic Development Center received a $1 million loan from Merrill Lynch that will be used to assist small business. The loan will help save about 100 jobs, center president Roberto Barragan told the Daily News. The center applied for the loan in October. The VEDC has seen a surge in applications for financial assistance as banks and other lending institutions cut back on loans. Over one 90-day period the center made $1 million in loans in the amount of $35,000 or less. The Merrill Lynch loan and a $15 million loan from the Los Angeles City Council brings the center’s fund to about $25 million, Barragan was quoted in the Daily News.