Nicholas F. Benton, the gay owner of the Falls Church News-Press, a progressive Washington, D.C.- area weekly, told The Advocate that he was urged by friends at the Blade to contact the Small Business Administration in July and made a last-ditch offer to salvage the publication, which was already on borrowed time. The SBA had forced Avalon Equity Fund, owner of Window Media, into receivership after Avalon, which had borrowed $39 million in loans from the SBA, violated its contract by failing to maintain required levels of private money.

“I contacted the SBA and they seemed to be willing to entertain an offer to spin free the assets of the Blade from the liquidation process,” said Benton, the owner of Benton Communications Inc., which is certified as an LGBT business enterprise by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

The offer from Benton ultimately included cash (he declined to disclose the amount), an assertion against the assumption of any debt and liability, and an understanding that the Blade would continue to be published through the transitional period.

“I didn’t see getting rich out of the deal,” Benton said. “But I did see
perpetuating the legacy and keeping people in their jobs and serving
the community regionally, locally, and nationally.”

The SBA
apparently favored the idea too. In September, Benton learned that the
agency had accepted his offer, one of a few bids that existed, he
recalled.