Todd Funeral Centre & Crematory begins new generation of service with financing from SBA, Shelby County Bank and Indiana Statewide CDC

For reliability and comfort in a time of sorrow, Rush County residents have turned to the George P. Todd Funeral Home for 90 years. James Todd, the grandson of the founder, is relocating and expanding the funeral home with financial assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loan program. Shelby County Bank and Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation are providing the SBA loan to the renamed Todd Funeral Centre & Crematory. "A funeral home maintains a very strong personal connection to a community," says Todd. "Our new funeral home offers amenities we have not had before, such as a scattering garden for cremated remains. First and foremost, we will continue our legacy of person-to-person service." The new Todd Funeral Home is on State Road 3 at the southern city limits of Rushville. It includes two chapels and a crematorium. Indiana Statewide CDC works with local lenders to provide loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loan program for expanding companies. Congress created the SBA 504 program to help small businesses gain favorable financing terms and retain operating cash while expanding. Indiana Statewide CDC is the leading SBA 504 lender in Indiana. Executive Director Jean Wojtowicz says that the Indiana Statewide CDC has provided more than $400 million to 920 Indiana companies, creating 26,500 jobs, since 1983. "The SBA 504 program is more relevant than ever," she says. "Banks are under pressure to lend to small local businesses. With 504 loans, the lenders can reduce their risk and provide their borrowers with affordable financing." Todd says, "The SBA 504 program is working out very well for us. It allows us to build a better facility with very good terms, and the professional staffs are great at both the bank and the Indiana Statewide CDC. Larry Lux of Shelby County Bank says, "The Todd Funeral Home is well known not only in Rush County, but in adjacent counties as well. We are pleased to help it expand, and the 504 program is perfect for this application." Todd says his family will continue to live in the 130-year-old Rushville residence that formerly housed the mortuary. (The home was also the residence of James Watson, a U.S. Representative and Senator who was the Senate majority leader from 1929-33.)