Businesses that need financing will be able to get a low interest loan through a new program being established by Sherburne County.

 

Tuesday, the Sherburne County Board approved the Economic Development Authority (EDA) Revolving Loan policy, which  provides businesses with secondary loans, loan guarantees and other financial assistance.

 

The program will finance between $25,000 and $100,000 as a secondary loan for qualifying projects and cover things like land and building acquisition, land improvements, new construction, renovations and purchase of machinery. Assistant Administrator Dan Weber introduced the program during a workshop meeting in October. At that time it was still unclear how the program would be administered. The original idea was to contract with the Initiative Foundation through a $250,000 grant from the county.

 

But further research indicated that wouldn’t be the best way for the program to operate. Tuesday, Weber said the grant process would be an issue.

 

“We were working with the Initiative Foundation and they are a charitable organization. It would have been a grant,” he said. “If we ever wanted to administer the program in-house or it wasn’t as successful as we were hoping, we couldn’t take that money back.”

 

 He recommended contracting with Central Minnesota Development Company (CMDC), a private non-profit organization that has been in business since 1978.

 

Company Vice President Kevin Weeres said CMDC is a certified development company - a designation given by the U.S. Small Business Administration (USBA). 

 

“In short, we’re agents of the USBA,” he said. “Our primary objective is to originate and service loans on their behalf that assist with economic development and job creation.”

 

The goal of the program is to retain local jobs and increase attractive-wage jobs, enhance and diversify the county’s economic base and encourage additional development.

 

The loan agreement would be for a minimum of three years, with the interest rate at 1/2 point below the prime rate. Generally, the loan should not exceed 25% of the total project cost.

 

Application forms are available at the Government Center Administration Dept. ot online at www.co.sherburne.mn.us.