Let us give you a hand up: Assistance in Cook County is available in many forms, including access to federal and state programs and direct federal and state assistance offered by local and regional economic development entities.
Some of these include:
STATE LOAN PROGRAMS
OneGeorgia / http://onegeorgia.org/programs: Offers financial partnerships with rural communities to create strong economies in all business sectors, allowing new and existing industries, both large and small, to flourish. Loans include the following:
Entrepreneur and Small Business Development Loan Guarantee (ESB) Fund: Provides new financial resources and opportunities for business development in Georgia’s at-risk areas by partnering with accredited Georgia financial institutions.
EDGE (Economic Development, Growth and Expansion) Fund: Utilized when one rural Georgia community competes for business location and/or expansion with another community from outside the state.
FEDERAL LOAN PROGRAMS
THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (SBA) / http://www.sba.gov: Since 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses.
Loans include the following:
Certified Development Company (CDC) 504 Loan Program / http://www.sba.gov/loanprograms: The CDC/504 Loan Program provides long-term, fixed-asset loans, and provides financing for major fixed assets such as equipment or real estate. A 504 loan can be used for the purchase of land, including existing buildings, the purchase of improvements, including grading, street improvement, utilities, parking lots and landscaping and the construction of new facilities, or modernizing, renovating or converting existing facilities. Maximum loan amounts range from $5,000,000 to $5,500,000, depending on the type of business.
General Small Business Loans - 7(a) / http://www.sba.gov/content/7a-loan-amounts-fees-interest-rates and http://www.sba.gov/7a-loan-program: The 7(a) Loan Program, SBA’s most common loan program, includes financial help for businesses with special requirements. If you are awarded a 7(a) loan, you can use the loan proceeds to help finance a large variety of business purposes. However, there are a few restrictions. 7(a) loans have a maximum loan amount of $5 million, whereas SBA does not set a minimum loan amount. The average 7(a) loan amount in fiscal year 2012 was $337,730.
The Export Working Capital Program / EWCP / http://www.sba.gov/content/export-working-capital-program: The Export Working Capital (EWCP) loan provides additional working capital to increase export sales without disrupting a domestic financing and business plan. The loan advances for up to $5 million to fund export transactions from purchase order to collections. This loan has a low guaranty fee and quick processing time.
International Trade Loans / http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/ITL%20small%20business.pdf: The U.S. Small Business Administration's International Trade Loan (ITL) provides small businesses with enhanced export financing options for their export transactions. The ITL is designed to help small businesses enter and expand into international markets and, when adversely affected by import competition, make the investments necessary to better compete. The ITL offers a combination of fixed asset, working capital financing and debt refinancing with the SBA's maximum guaranty - 90 percent - on the total loan amount. Maximum loan amount is $5,000,000
CAPLines Revolving Line of Credit / http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Loan%20Chart%20Baltimore%20March%202014_20140414.pdf: Used for: working capital, contract, seasonal builder. Uses include: financing seasonal and/or short-term working capital needs, costs to perform, construction costs, advances against existing inventory and receivables and consolidation of short-term debts. Maximum loan amount is $5,000,000.
THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE / USDA
USDA Rural Development forges partnerships with rural communities and provides technical assistance and financial backing for rural businesses and cooperatives to create quality jobs in rural areas. Loans include the following:
Business and Industry Guaranteed Loans (B&I) / http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_gar.html: The purpose of the B&I Guaranteed Loan Program is to improve, develop, or finance business, industry, and employment and improve the economic and environmental climate in rural communities. This purpose is achieved by bolstering the existing private credit structure through the guarantee of quality loans which will provide lasting community benefits. The total amount of loans to one borrower must not exceed $10 million. The Administrator may, at the Administrator's discretion, grant an exception to the $10 million limit for loans of up to $25 million under certain circumstances.
Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program –Financing / http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_Biorefinery.html: The Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program was established to assist in the development of new and emerging technologies for the development of advanced biofuels. The project must meet the following criteria: the project must be for the development and construction of commercial-scale biorefineries using eligible technology or retrofitting of existing facilities with eligible technology, the project must use an eligible feedstock for the production of advanced biofuels and biobased products. Examples of eligible feedstock include, but are not limited to, renewable biomass, biosolids, treated sewage sludge, and byproducts of the pulp and paper industry. The majority of the biorefinery production must be an advanced biofuel. A project that creates an advanced biofuel that is converted to another form of energy for sale will still be considered an advanced biofuel. There is no minimum loan amount and a maximum loan amount is $250 million.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS / CDFI Fund (U.S. Treasury) / http://www.cdfifund.gov/who_we_are/about
The CDFI Fund was established by the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994, as a bipartisan initiative. Loans/Programs include the following:
New Markets Tax Credit (Program) / NMTC / http://www.cdfifund.gov/what_we_do/programs_id.asp?programID=5 : Projects that locate in the Cook County, GA Megasite are eligible for New Market Tax Credits. New Market Tax Credits were established by Congress in 2000 to spur new or increased investments into operating businesses and real estate projects located in low-income communities. NMTC attract investment capital to low-income communities by permitting individual and corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their Federal income tax return in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial institutions called Community Development Entities (CDEs). The credit totals 39 percent of the original investment amount and is claimed over a period of seven years (five percent for each of the first three years, and six percent for each of the remaining four years). The investment in the CDE cannot be redeemed before the end of the seven-year period.
THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK (EX-IM BANK) OF THE UNITED STATES / http://www.exim.gov?: The Ex-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the U.S.
The bank assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. It does not compete with private sector lenders but provides export financing products that fill gaps in trade financing. The bank assumes credit and country risks that the private sector is unable, or unwilling, to accept. The Ex-Im Bank provides: working capital guarantees (pre-export financing), export credit insurance, and loan guarantees and direct loans (buyer financing). No transaction is too large or small. Ex-Im Bank loans/programs include the following:
Working Capital Financing / http://www.exim.gov/products/workingcapital: Helps exporters obtain loan capital to facilitate the export of their goods and services. Guarantees 90 percent of the principal and interest of bank-originated commercial loans, up to 100 percent of the value of the U.S. export. Loan maturities may extend to 36 months.
Loan Guarantees / http://www.exim.gov/products/loanguarantee: Assists exporters by guaranteeing term financing to creditworthy international buyers, both private and public sector, for purchases of U. S. goods and services. Primarily used for financing purchases of U.S. capital equipment and services.
Finance Lease Guarantees / http://www.exim.gov/products/finance-lease-guarantee.cfm: Guarantees lease financing of U. S. goods and services to creditworthy international lessees, both private and public sector, when financing is otherwise not available or applicable interest rates are not economically viable.
Direct Loans / http://www.exim.gov/products/direct-loan.cfm: Provides fixed-rate loans for up to 12 years in general and up to 18 years for renewable energy projects to creditworthy international buyers, both private and public sector, for purchases of U. S. goods and services. There is no minimum or maximum limit to the size of the export sale that may be financed.
For more information, contact us.
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