Standard & Poor's Upgrades Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority's Rating to BBB+ For Northwest Ohio Bond Fund

Toledo, OH – May 23, 2012 – Standards and Poor’s (S&P) recently announced an upgrade to the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority’s Northwest Ohio Bond Fund rating from a BBB to a BBB+ investment-grade rating with Stable Outlook last week.

“We are pleased that S&P continues to acknowledge the strength of our bond financing capacities through the Northwest Ohio Bond Fund,” says Paul Toth, President and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “This credit rating upgrade recognizes the work we have done over the last 12 months to enhance the bond fund by improving our risk profiles and the prospects for continued diversification in bond issuance due to credit demand we are seeing on the horizon.”

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority has developed a national reputation for innovative business financing, assisting more than 300 economic development projects representing a total investment of more than $1 billion while helping to create and retain more than 15,500 jobs. The Northwest Ohio Bond Fund is one of several financing mechanisms available through the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.

“The S&P rating upgrade will allow us to offer competitive rates for borrowers looking for attractive long-term fixed rate financing,” says Toth.

The Northwest Ohio Bond Fund provides small and medium sized companies access to the national capital market as if they were BBB+ Investment Grade companies. Its portfolio of projects includes entities such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, Nagel Trucking, Toledo School for the Arts, Dana and several other companies located within Ohio.

The Northwest Ohio Bond Fund provides financing for projects from $1 to $8 million and fixed interest rates for full term of the bonds. A typical transaction is usually 90% financing and 10% equity. The fund provides 20-year financing for land and buildings, and financing up to 10 years for equipment. The Northwest Ohio Bond Fund issues tax exempt bonds for manufacturing, non-profit 501(c)3, and governmental operations and taxable bonds for all other projects.

With offices in 23 countries and a history that dates back more than 150 years, Standard & Poor’s is known to investors worldwide as a leader of financial-market intelligence. Today Standard & Poor’s strives to provide investors who want to make better informed investment decisions with market intelligence in the form of credit ratings, indices, investment research and risk evaluations and solutions.