STEUBENVILLE — If you’ve been thinking about starting or growing a business but don’t have the capital, an innovative loan program aimed at stimulating economic growth and investment in underserved communities could be the answer you’ve been looking for.

An informational meeting on WesBanco’s New Markets Loan Program will be held Tuesday beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the main branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, 407 S. Fourth St., Steubenville.

The program leverages new markets tax credits to provide capital for business loans aimed at stimulating economic growth and investment in underserved communities. City officials are partnering with WesBanco to make it available in Steubenville.

“This is a very unique program that could greatly benefit those that want to start a business or expand a business in downtown Steubenville,” Second Ward Councilman Tracy McManamon, chair of council’s economic development committee, said. “We are partnering with WesBanco to offer these unique tax credits that enable expansion of current businesses or perhaps the start-up of new businesses. The biggest challenge that I hear from developers, real estate agents and investors is access to financing. This could very well be the solution for those individuals.”

McManamon said the tax credit program “has worked extremely well in other markets and we believe it would work extremely well in Steubenville.”

The program helps support development in highly distressed communities in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia. Its goal is to create and retain jobs, bring commercial and community goods and services to low-income communities and individuals, spark catalytic investment in the community and build partnerships with community organizations.

It offers subsidized business loans at 50 percent market rate reduction for up to seven years with no origination fees. Projects “must demonstrate (they) would not succeed in providing the projected community benefits without new markets loan program financing.”

During the past 20 years, the WesBanco Bank Community Development Corp. has received $125 million in new market tax credit awards, and its program has assisted more than $102 million in total projects — ranging from a center for individuals with disabilities in Ohio to a major manufacturing facility in Kentucky and a medical facility in West Virginia. It has impacted more than 2,500 permanent, full-time jobs.

In each case, WesBanco says its program allocations have “helped facilitate the completion of a vital local project.”

“I have never heard of such a program available to businesses before,” McManamon said. “Imagine getting a market rate interest financing program and only having to pay 50 percent of the market rate for seven years.”

Qualified loan purposes include small business, equipment, community facilities, investment in mixed-use commercial real estate with qualified tenants, and medical or rehabilitation facilities.

“There are other benefits to going through this program with WesBanco and the purpose of the workshop is to discuss and meet the people that run this program for all of WesBanco throughout the country,” McManamon said. “As we all know, we have the inventory to offer businesses to expand and grow, and now we have very affordable access to the financing.”

The presentation will last about 45 minutes, he said.