Locally-owned businesses help boost the economy and can become important parts of their neighborhoods, but the hurdles would-be owners have to jump through to secure funding can be discouraging. Time Warner Cable News reporter Sarah Blazonis  has more about a program that's helped several businesses get started on the west side and why more successes may be on the way.

BUFFALO, N.Y. --  You'd never guess from the constant stream of clients at Envy Us Looks Barbershop Friday afternoon that it just opened its doors four months ago. But for awhile, it was uncertain whether owner Manny Batcho would get the money to move on the Elmwood Ave. location.

"I reached out to a lot of lenders, probably 11," said Batcho. "A lot of them reach out with the phrase 'start-up business,' when, in fact, they're not for start-ups at all, they're for existing businesses that need working capital."

Then he heard about the Westminster Economic Development Initiative or WEDI. The group says the challenges Batcho faced aren't uncommon for people who want to start businesses on Buffalo's west side.

"It's a community that has, in the past, not been seen as a great community to lend to, a great community that can... create businesses. But the interesting thing is, it was there," said WEDI Executive Director Benjamin Bissell.

WEDI was one of five recipients to get a $100,000 grant from First Niagara Bank as part of its "micro-market strategy." It used the funds to give loans to ten businesses like Batcho's. Owners just had to live or work on the west side and agree to work with WEDI on a business plan.

WEDI was the first of the groups to go through its share of the money, and now First Niagara is taking steps to make sure there are more success stories like this one. The bank is making more money available to WEDI in the form of a loan. It will charge a small amount of interest, and WEDI will be able to charge those it loans to slightly more, so the non-profit will also have some income.

"We would say this is a grand slam. We are extremely happy about this, and, to be candid, that's why we've sort of gone from the original $100,000 to $200,000," said Buford Sears, First Niagara WNY Regional President and Managing Director of Specialized Banking.

It's a program Batcho's glad he took part in.

"There's a lot of new clients and a lot of returning clients, and to see from this short period of time to where we can be in the future is definitely exciting," Batcho said.

The hope is the future will soon be brighter for more west side entrepreneurs.

The other groups that received $100,000 grants as part of First Niagara's original program were the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the UB Center for Innovation, the Buffalo Urban League, and The Foundry. A First Niagara official said they were able to use the funds to meet community needs as they saw fit.