A six-block radius of Newburgh has access to newly established capital through a program called the Creative Neighborhood Loan Fund, through the efforts of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress and Rhinebeck Bank. According to a press release announcing the loan, Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress has launched an economic development plan with a goal of improving the business climate in an approximate six square block area within the City of Newburgh, near furniture maker and studio space rental initiative Atlas Industries, and SUNY Orange’s City of Newburgh campus. The zone roughly includes an area bordered on the north by Catherine Street and on the south by South William Street. To the west, it is bordered by South Johnston Street and to the east by River Road. See the full map here.

Rhinebeck Bank is enhancing the efforts of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress on this project by "allocating $3 million of our loan portfolio to fund secured-term loans including commercial express loans, equipment and vehicle purchases, leasehold improvements and real estate transactions under favorable pricing, advance rates and terms to the prospective borrowers in the Newburgh Creative Neighborhood," according to their website.

Says Rhinebeck Bank's president and CEO, Mike Quinn in a press release from Pattern for Progress: “There’s a lot of great ideas, but just an idea doesn’t do it,” he said. “It needs financing [and] it needs advice.”

A business who has already benefited from the Creative Neighborhood Loan Fund is one of Newburgh's newest businesses, Liberty Street Bistro. Owner and Chef Michael Kelly discusses it here with Michelle Barone-Lepore.

For more information on applying for this loan, reach out to Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, at rdegroat@pfprogress.org or call (845) 565-4900, or to Rhinebeck Bank's Richard J. Kolosky, Commercial Lending Director, Hudson Valley West, at rkolosky@rhinebeckbank.com or (845) 790-1538.

Editorial Note: Rhinebeck Bank is a sponsor of A Little Beacon Blog, but this article is not related to their campaign. A Little Beacon Blog learned about the program and thought readers would like to know more about it, as more Beaconites look to Newburgh for business space innitiatives.