Ohio utility companies to start bond-fund for local manufacturers

6/24/2010

FirstEnergy Corp. and its Ohio utility companies will sponsor a coordinated bond-fund program through the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority and two port authorities in northeast Ohio to support lending to local manufacturers.

The utility, which owns Toledo Edison, will contribute $2.5 million to each port authority to fund a bond program to promote economic development and job retention for members of the Ohio Manufacturers' Association.

Each of the three port authorities will offer long-term, fixed-rate financing at competitive rates to qualified manufacturers, a spokesman for the manufacturers' association said.