By : Greg Bordonaro
Source : http://www.hartfordbusiness.com
Category : Small Business Grant
State economic development officials are moving quickly to try to implement several key measures of the jobs bill passed in October that aim to expand the availability of credit to small businesses and manufacturers.
The new two-year $626 million measure, which received bipartisan support, includes a Small Business Express Program that will provide $100 million in loans, forgivable loans or matching grants to Connecticut-based small businesses.
Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith said her agency is working on finalizing how the program will be implemented and hopes to have the first checks written by the end of this year.
Speed is a key goal of the program, Smith said, which is why the state is moving quickly to try get it going.
To qualify for the program businesses must have 50 or fewer employees and be based in Connecticut. The available options include a:
• Small Business Express Revolving Loan Fund, which will provide up to $100,000 in loans to assist small businesses with capital and operational needs.
• Small Business Job Creation Incentive Program, which will provide deferred loans of up to $250,000 to assist small businesses to spur growth. DECD may forgive all or part of the loan based on the attainment of job creation goals.
• Small Business Creation Matching Grant Program, which will offer dollar-for-dollar matching grants of up $100,000 for specific job creation, capital investment, and working capital goals.
Donna Wertenbach, the CEO of the Community Economic Development Fund (CEDF), a nonprofit lender that will play a role in making the loans, said the new program presents a unique opportunity for small businesses because of the cheap capital that will be available. Interest rates on the loans will be 4 percent.
“Businesses are not going to see 4 percent money again for a very long time,” Wertenbach said. Wertenbach said the express program will allow the nontraditional lending community, which will do much of the lending, to go deeper into the marketplace, be more flexible and take higher risks. DECD will also do some direct lending.
Wertenbach said, however, lenders will have to follow strict lending guidelines set out by the state, which could cause some issues.
The requirements, for example, only allow for a five-year loan term, which could be too short for some small businesses. In addition, loan amounts are capped at $100,000 for the revolving loan fund, which is also restrictive.
Wertenbach has suggested raising the maximum loan amount to $200,000 and raising the loan term to up to 10 years.
“The five years is a little tight, but we will make it work,” she added. One of the options, Werternbach said, is for organizations like CEDF to use some of their own lending programs to leverage state money.
Source : http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news21618.html
Source : http://www.hartfordbusiness.com
Category : Small Business Grant
State economic development officials are moving quickly to try to implement several key measures of the jobs bill passed in October that aim to expand the availability of credit to small businesses and manufacturers.
The new two-year $626 million measure, which received bipartisan support, includes a Small Business Express Program that will provide $100 million in loans, forgivable loans or matching grants to Connecticut-based small businesses.
Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith said her agency is working on finalizing how the program will be implemented and hopes to have the first checks written by the end of this year.
Speed is a key goal of the program, Smith said, which is why the state is moving quickly to try get it going.
To qualify for the program businesses must have 50 or fewer employees and be based in Connecticut. The available options include a:
• Small Business Express Revolving Loan Fund, which will provide up to $100,000 in loans to assist small businesses with capital and operational needs.
• Small Business Job Creation Incentive Program, which will provide deferred loans of up to $250,000 to assist small businesses to spur growth. DECD may forgive all or part of the loan based on the attainment of job creation goals.
• Small Business Creation Matching Grant Program, which will offer dollar-for-dollar matching grants of up $100,000 for specific job creation, capital investment, and working capital goals.
Donna Wertenbach, the CEO of the Community Economic Development Fund (CEDF), a nonprofit lender that will play a role in making the loans, said the new program presents a unique opportunity for small businesses because of the cheap capital that will be available. Interest rates on the loans will be 4 percent.
“Businesses are not going to see 4 percent money again for a very long time,” Wertenbach said. Wertenbach said the express program will allow the nontraditional lending community, which will do much of the lending, to go deeper into the marketplace, be more flexible and take higher risks. DECD will also do some direct lending.
Wertenbach said, however, lenders will have to follow strict lending guidelines set out by the state, which could cause some issues.
The requirements, for example, only allow for a five-year loan term, which could be too short for some small businesses. In addition, loan amounts are capped at $100,000 for the revolving loan fund, which is also restrictive.
Wertenbach has suggested raising the maximum loan amount to $200,000 and raising the loan term to up to 10 years.
“The five years is a little tight, but we will make it work,” she added. One of the options, Werternbach said, is for organizations like CEDF to use some of their own lending programs to leverage state money.
Source : http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news21618.html
