RCAC offers technical assistance and bridge and construction loans for rural and tribal communities
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Summary
The Rural Community Assistance Corporation described technical assistance offerings for grant applications and a suite of loan products, including bridge loans and short-term construction financing, aimed at small/rural water and wastewater systems.
The Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) described its technical assistance and loan programs aimed at rural, tribal and underserved communities across 13 Western states.
Why it matters: RCAC provides targeted help to communities with limited staff capacity and can offer bridge financing to cover contractor payments while grant reimbursements are pending.
Jerry Furlong, loan officer at RCAC, said RCAC provides training, customized technical assistance, rate studies, and loans for environmental infrastructure such as water, wastewater and solid-waste projects. RCAC assistance is targeted to rural communities (population under 50,000), low-income service areas and eligible entities such as nonprofits, government entities and federally recognized tribes.
Furlong highlighted two common loan uses: short-term bridge financing to cover contractor payments in grant-funded construction projects while waiting for state reimbursements (useful where the general contractor requires 30-day payment but reimbursements may take 60–90 days), and longer-term loans for capital projects such as tanks, wells or recharge facilities with amortization terms after construction draws. He described loan examples that included interest-only draw periods and multi-year amortization schedules tailored to project needs.
RCAC encouraged attendees to contact loan officers, use the CFCC handbook for application details and visit RCAC’s breakout room for project-specific discussions.