Special Grant to Provide $100,000 for Loan
to Businesses
in Crawford, Dent, Phelps
and Washington Counties
ST. JAMES-The Missouri Department of Economic Development has made available
$100,000 to the Meramec Regional Planning Commission for loans to businesses
in Crawford, Dent, Phelps and Washington counties, which are Meramec counties
that are a part of the Delta Region of Missouri.
MRPC has six months to loan the money, and repayment of the funds will go
into the region's loan fund. To borrow the funds, the
project must create jobs, and 51 percent of the beneficiaries
must be low-to-moderate income, as defined by the Department of Economic Development.
"Ideally, we are looking for a company that is needing
working capital," explained Candace Connell, business loans specialist
with MRPC.
Four other regional planning commissions in southern Missouri
received similar grants, thanks to an initiative by the Missouri Department
of Economic Development and the city of Cape Giraudeau.
"We are excited about growing our loan fund," said Richard Cavender,
executive director of MRPC. "In order to do that, we must find that company
that needs working capital to expand," Cavender added.
MRPC packages loans on behalf of Meramec Regional Development
Corporation, a 501(c)3 loan board that provides low-interest loans to help
finance business start-ups and expansions in Crawford, Dent, Maries, Gasconade,
Phelps and Washington counties. Working in cooperation with banks, the programs
are designed to induce private lenders to participate in business loans in
order to create jobs in the six-county region.
MRDC offers two programs: the Regional Revolving Loan fund and
the Small Business Administration's 504 program.
Persons needing more information on loans should contact Connell at (573)
265-2993 or email her at cconnell@meramecregion.org.