BALTIMORE, MD (October 2, 2017) excerpt from THE BALTIMORE SUN - Baltimore needs a more robust financing system to help small businesses grow and to attract new companies.

That’s the conclusion of a new report by the Johns Hopkins University’s 21st Century Cities Initiative, which evaluated access to venture capital funding and loans for startup companies and more established Main Street small businesses.

The report also found that growth among traditional small businesses may be lagging because of insufficient access to loans.

While lending to small businesses in Maryland has trended upward since the recession, loans to Baltimore-based companies have lagged, in part because of consolidation among community banks that traditionally have been a key source of financing for local businesses.

Local banks are more likely to provide bigger working capital loans than national banks, which often focus on credit card loans, according to the report.

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