Jobs Bill Begins Paying Off

CBIA member company first recipient of Small Business Express funding

Earlier this year, CBIA member Oxford Performance Materials LLC (OPM) became the first company to be funded by the state’s new Small Business Express Program, designed to spur job creation and economic growth.

The program, part of the bipartisan jobs bill passed last October, enables the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to provide loans, forgivable loans, and matching grants to approved small businesses. The agency is expediting the paperwork process to get resources into the hands of businesses more quickly.

OPM, a South Windsor-based biomedical firm, will receive a $200,000 loan at a rate of 2.5% for a term of five years and a grant of $100,000 to support the company’s expansion project. The funding will enable OPM to double its workforce by adding 12 positions, make facility improvements, and purchase machinery and equipment. OPM produces plastic medical implant devices and recently moved into a newly leased facility with space for polymer processing and additional fabrication technologies.

“We are delighted that OPM has been the first company selected to receive program funding from the DECD,” said OPM President Scott DeFelice in a statement released by the governor’s office. “This project is critical to our success and has resulted in immediate hirings by the company. We are confident that OPM’s advanced technology and international business activities will culminate in additional manufacturing jobs and innovative medical technologies to improve human health.”

To qualify for Small Business Express funding, a company must have 50 or fewer employees and be based in Connecticut. The DECD will give priority to companies that are creating jobs and otherwise contributing to the state’s economy by, for example, exporting their products or services or promoting innovation. For more information or to apply, click here or contact the DECD’s Michelle Lugo at 860.270-8052 or michelle.lugo@ct.gov.