WTC launches 'seed capital' program for outlying communities

Puget Sound Business Journal

6/18/03

The Washington Technology Center (WTC) in Seattle said Tuesday it has launched a new program to provide $500,000 in "seed capital" to investors and companies in several communities outside the central Puget Sound area.

The U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration provided $250,000 to launch the two-year program, which the WTC has matched.

"This will be a way to help regions across Washington state develop local new businesses and jobs that can help sustain and grow these communities," said Lee Cheatham, executive director of WTC. The center said businesses in communities such as Spokane, Bellingham and Port Angeles don't have access to this level of funding.

The center found through focus-group studies that funding for companies in the stages between the "friends and family" stage and venture investors is lacking outside the Seattle area.