Five communities have pooled to create a revolving loan fund under the terms of LB 518, which was signed into law in 2017. Of the $7 million made available for rural housing by the state, SENDD successfully secured $650,000. Fairbury committed $133,800 of LB 840 funding.

Borrowers would be expected to pay back the county within three to four years through increased tax revenue derived from the business's growth. How many years a borrower would have to pay off the principal and interest on a loan depends on the nature of the investment. Businesses could apply for up to $30,000 or 25 percent of the cost of their project, whichever is less.

But the state concedes the Lancaster City Revitalization & Improvement Zone program may disburse grants. So, the CRIZ board voted to set aside $250,000 for a small-business grant fund. The money comes from the bond the authority issued in 2015.

Idea Foundry, located in Pittsburgh, PA has created a pilot revolving loan fund designed to support local entrepreneurs innovating around connecting consumers with local foods, reducing regional food insecurity, increasing on-farm sustainability, and increasing jobs in local farming. Funds will be dispersed to as many as six businesses in year one.

Up to $4 million will be available to small business owners who have historically had difficulty accessing regular credit markets, particularly minority and women-owned businesses, according to an ESD statement. The money can be used for improving land and/or buildings, construction and renovation, and for machinery and equipment purchases.

The EPA announced that the Government of Puerto Rico has repaid its $194.5 million debt to the Puerto Rico Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. This milestone is the result of three years of dedicated effort between EPA and the Government of Puerto Rico to ensure that Puerto Rican communities can once again access low-interest loans.

The Capital Magnet Fund provides essential equity capital that non-profit developers and lenders often cannot find elsewhere — funding to do pre-development work, create revolving loan funds, establish loan loss reserves and provide loan guarantees — all critical pieces of affordable housing and community development. In total, four rounds of funding have awarded $434 million.

CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series: Emerging Structures for Investing in Low-Income Communities
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 - 1:00 PM Eastern

>>> VIEW THE RLF RESOURCE CENTER   

Hundreds of development finance programs exist at the federal, state, and local level. These programs have been created to address the financing needs of business, industry, real estate, housing, environmental and community development entities. Individually, none of these programs are a silver bullet solution to economic development challenges. The toolbox approach brings together the best of these financing concepts and techniques to provide a comprehensive response to capital and resource needs. Listen as Toby Rittner with the Council of Development Finance Agencies discusses the various development finance tools that can be utilized to enhance the efforts of your Revolving Loan Fund.

Staffing a Revolving Loan Fund requires a team of financial specialists and dedicated sources of revenue. In one approach – best for funds issuing a higher volume of loans – each team member is responsible for a different stage of the lending process. An alternative approach assigns each loan to an individual who monitors it from beginning to end. Revenue sources can be diverse, but generally staff are supported by the interest charged on loans. Listen as Jennifer Hibbard, Robyn Jacobson and Michelle Beecher discuss strategies for developing RLF staff and implementing effective management policies.

>>> MORE RLF RESOURCES