Columbus has opened a second round of applications for a loan program that aims to help local small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.
The program, called Columbus INvigorate, was created in April and allows small businesses within the Columbus city limits to apply for a loan ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. The loans have a six-month deferral of interest and principal payments on the three-year terms. The loans do not require collateral but require a personal guarantee from applicants, city officials said. Interest rate after the six-month deferral would be 1%.
The deadline for the second round of applications is Sept. 30. Loan applications will be considered on a first-come first-serve basis, and city officials expect approved funds will be disbursed during the first half of October, said Robin Hilber, assistant director of community development for the city of Columbus.
A total of 43 local small businesses received loans totaling $716,000 from the first round of the program, according to city records. That leaves about $300,000 available of the initial $1 million in city funds that the Columbus City Council approved for the program in April.
“We anticipated that we were going to open up a second round but we weren’t sure when,” Hilber said. “We just decided that probably sometime at the end of the summer, first of the fall would be a good time to reassess. We’ve had several calls in the last couple of months just saying, ‘Hey, do you still have funds available? Is the loan application going to be open again?’”
To be eligible to apply for the city’s loan program, companies must be located within the Columbus city limits, were in business as of Jan. 1, have fewer than 50 employees, no more than $2 million in gross receipts and show a decline in sales as a result of the pandemic, city officials said.
Loan recipients are required use the funds for “ordinary and necessary business expenses,” not debt consolidation, and must commit to remain open and retain employees, according to the program’s website.
Businesses that received loans during the first round of applications can apply for additional funds as long as the total received over both rounds does not exceed $25,000. Loan recipients that received $25,000 during the first round are not eligible for additional funds at this time, Hilber said.
“There are some people from the first round who applied for and received $25,000, so they could not apply again, but there were some who applied and said, ‘We just need $5,000 or $10,000 to get on our feet and carry us over,’” Hilber said. “Our concern is that some of those may have expected business to be back to the usual now and obviously we’ve opened up much slower than anticipated. We want to make sure we’re helping those businesses who may have underestimated what they needed.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Where to learn more” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Visit www.columbus.in.gov/columbus-invigorate/ for more information about the Columbus INvigorate program.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
