Film center gears up with $2.5 million loan

All eyes are on the Connecticut Film Center as it takes out a new working capital loan.

Based in Stamford, the center recently received a $2.5 million loan to expand its production facilities. First Niagara Bank provided the loan.

“The rapid growth of Connecticut”™s television industry necessitates a pool of working capital that will allow us to act quickly when new opportunities arise,” said Kevin Segalla, CFC president, in a statement. “First Niagara took the time to understand our business, and created a loan structure that enables us to keep pace with the speed of our industry.”

In 2009 the film center built its $22 million production facility to welcome outside TV and film productions, and in 2010 it played a key role in the transformation of the former Clairol headquarters into the new headquarters for NBC Sports and the new Chelsea Piers Connecticut sports facility.

First Niagara said the loan was a part of the bank’s new emphasis on commercial lending within the tristate region, where it has branches in Fairfield County, the lower Hudson Valley and Northern New Jersey.