Northwest Loan Fund seeks county sign-on for new CDBG business-loan grant

Anita Cameron, director of the Northwest Business Loan Fund, told the Rio Blanco County commissioners on Feb. 25 that the fund is seeking county approval to be a signatory on a new Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application that would supply loan capital and administrative funds for rural business lending.

Cameron said the CDBG money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and that its primary purpose “is to create jobs.” She asked the board to sign the application, an intergovernmental agreement and six attachments so Eagle County (the lead county) can include Rio Blanco in the submission, and told commissioners the grant request is for $500,000 in lending capital with roughly $80,000 listed for administration in the initial application.

The fund, Cameron said, operates a revolving loan pool that makes business loans banks sometimes will not; typical loans run from about $10,000 up to several hundred thousand dollars with terms of one to 10 years. She described recent local loans the fund has made, including for a flight school in Meeker and a commercial laundry in Hayden that she said employs about 99 people.

Commissioners asked how the fund sources applicants and how the loan underwriting works. Cameron said the fund receives bank referrals, appears on the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) website and requires a business plan with three years of projections or, for existing businesses, up to three years of financial statements and tax returns. She said the loan committee—made up of one representative from each of nine counties—visits recommended businesses before approving loans.

Cameron asked the county to place the request on the March 11 agenda so the grant application can be finalized before that public hearing date at Eagle County. Commissioners agreed to place the item on the March 11 agenda to allow more time for review and to gather questions before deciding whether to sign the attachments and the intergovernmental agreement.

If the board approves the application, Cameron said she can seek additional CDBG funds during the grant period. She also noted the grant cycle recently shortened from five to four years and that the fund receives an administrative allowance from HUD that helps run the program.

The presentation and follow-up Q&A took about 35 minutes; Cameron encouraged potential borrowers to contact her for a preliminary discussion about eligibility and loan fit.