{"id":19382,"date":"2026-05-14T18:22:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=19382"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:22:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:22:44","slug":"building-bridges-not-just-balance-sheets-how-craig-teamer-helps-toledo-businesses-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/14\/building-bridges-not-just-balance-sheets-how-craig-teamer-helps-toledo-businesses-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Bridges, Not Just Balance Sheets: How Craig Teamer Helps Toledo Businesses Grow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Asia Nail<\/strong>
\nThe Truth Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some people look at numbers and only see profit and loss. Craig L. Teamer<\/strong> looks at numbers and sees people.<\/p>\n

He sees the daycare owner trying to keep the lights on. The contractor waiting 60 days to get paid. The small business owner with a dream bigger than their bank account.<\/p>\n

And at the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority<\/strong>, helping those people has become part of his life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s never a dull moment,\u201d Teamer says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

That may be the understatement of the year.<\/p>\n

As Director of Finance & Special Projects<\/strong>, Teamer oversees several programs designed to help businesses get access to capital, especially businesses that may not qualify for traditional bank loans. But his path to this work did not happen overnight. Like many careers, it unfolded one conversation at a time.<\/p>\n

A Second Call That Changed Everything<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before joining the Port Authority in 2017, Teamer spent more than 20 years in banking and corporate finance. He worked for companies including The Andersons, Inc., where he helped finance the company\u2019s current headquarters building.<\/p>\n

Ironically, one of the financing tools used on that project came from the Port Authority itself.<\/p>\n

That is how he met Thomas Winston.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, Winston was the chief financial officer,\u201d Teamer says. \u201cAfter we closed the transaction, he approached me and asked if I\u2019d be interested in coming to the Port.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teamer politely declined.<\/p>\n

Then Winston came back a year later.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife said, \u2018This is the second time he\u2019s reached out to you. Maybe you should sit down and have the conversation,\u2019\u201d Teamer recalls.<\/p>\n

That conversation changed everything.<\/p>\n

For Teamer, a Toledo native, the opportunity felt personal. Economic development was not just business. It was home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great opportunity to do impactful economic development in Toledo,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s really been the draw for me, and it\u2019s what\u2019s kept me here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking Beyond the Risk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The shift from traditional banking to economic development changed the way Teamer views finance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn banking, sometimes things are very black and white,\u201d he explains. \u201cAt the Port, you have to look at projects more holistically.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, numbers still matter. But so do neighborhoods. Jobs. Families. Communities.<\/p>\n

A banker may see risk. Teamer says the Port Authority also looks at possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just, \u2018Does this project make sense on paper?\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s also, \u2018What\u2019s the impact from a job’s perspective? A neighborhood perspective? A social perspective?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

His work often feels less like crunching numbers and more like building bridges between ideas and opportunity.<\/p>\n

Helping Main Street Stay Alive<\/strong><\/h3>\n

That broader vision became especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when businesses across the country were struggling just to survive.<\/p>\n

Out of that crisis came one of Teamer\u2019s biggest projects yet: the Northwest Ohio Revolving Loan Fund<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The program was built from the ground up almost like assembling a car engine piece by piece while the vehicle was already moving down the highway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to create the whole framework from scratch,\u201d Teamer says. \u201cThe documents, the processes\u2026all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the Revolving Loan Fund helps Main Street businesses with loans ranging from $10,000 to $300,000. The program has already funded nearly $2 million in loans.<\/p>\n

And those businesses are not giant corporations with skyscrapers and private jets.<\/p>\n

Main Street businesses<\/strong> are small, local businesses that serve everyday community needs. Think of the kinds of places you\u2019d find on a town\u2019s main road or in a neighborhood strip.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re usually things like:<\/p>\n