New Loan Program from Regional Business Fund
Thursday, September 15th, 2016 -- 11:25 AM
-Regional Business Fund, Inc. (RBF) has created a new loan program to provide financing to companies who have been in operation for at least two years and cannot obtain conventional financing and are looking to grow. This program is the fourth loan program for the non-profit, and was created to fill a financing need by companies that are too old for the Micro Loan program, yet whose projects are not large enough to warrant a request to the Revolving Loan Fund program. RBF, Inc. also administers the highly popular Downtown Façade Loan program.According to Beth Waldhart, Fund Manager with RBF, Inc., “We’ve been hearing from financial institutions and business owners that there seems to be a gap in available financing for companies that have a few years under their belts (thus disqualifying them from the Micro Loan program), yet they do not have enough years in business or enough collateral to obtain additional financing from their lender. With the new Growth Loan Fund, companies with at least 2 years in operations, generating at least $250,000 in sales within the last 12 months, and who have a clear growth plan can apply for up to $60,000 at 4% to be used to ramp up inventory, purchase a piece of equipment, or many other uses. The applicants must have a detailed business plan outlining a clear growth strategy.”
RBF, Inc. also recently announced that it had increased the maximum loan amount for the Micro Loan program from $25,000 to $30,000. The Micro Loan program is for startup companies and businesses that are less than 2 years old, and are unable to obtain conventional financing. Funds are still available through both the Façade Loan Program for downtown building renovations ??" up to $30,000 at 0% fixed for up to 7 years. Businesses located in Barron, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Polk, and St. Croix Counties are eligible to apply for assistance from the Fund.
RBF was created by West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission in 1995 and is managed by a nine member Board of Directors. RBF is a non-profit entity whose purpose is to promote business and economic development in west central Wisconsin through the establishment and administration of a revolving loan fund for businesses.
For more information on Regional Business Fund, Inc., please contact Levi Wagner at 715-836-2918 or visit the website www.rbfinc.org.
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