SEED Corp. Secures $1 Million for Small Business Micro Loans Up To $35,000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

06 March 2009
Tamarah Barao
508-822-1020

The South Eastern Economic Development (SEED) Corporation has secured $1 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for micro loans up to $35,000 for small businesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island Micro Loan Program will be announced at a breakfast on Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. at the Johnson & Wales University Culinary Arts Museum at 315 Harborside Boulevard in Providence . Mark Hayward, the Rhode Island District Director for SBA, and John Cronin, the director for the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center (RISBDC) are guest speakers.

“We are very pleased to have SBA funds available to assist small businesses in both states in these difficult economic times. The need for micro loans has grown exponentially. SEED will have up to $3.5 million available from SBA to meet demand,” stated Maria Gooch-Smith, SEED's executive director.

As the new SBA Intermediary Lender for the Rhode Island Micro Loan Program, SEED will also be holding a free entrepreneurial workshop on Tuesday, March 24 at the Larry Friedman International Center for Entrepreneurship in the TACO Center at Johnson & Wales University at 10 Abbott Park Place in Providence.

Micro loans up to $35,000 are available for existing and start-up small businesses including home based businesses. Loan funds can be used for: working capital, inventory, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, leasehold improvements and refinancing business credit card debt with high interest rates. The term on the loans is up to six years and the current rate is 6.5 percent fixed.

According to Gooch-Smith, small business owners need to have at least a 600 credit score and be able to explain delinquencies. She added that SEED will be reviewing the small business owner's entire household income to see if there is enough income to repay the loan.

“SEED can be flexible with repayment terms and collateral, but we expect small businesses to stand behind their loans and will take all available collateral including a second or third position on the small business owner's home, whether there is equity available or not,” she explained.

The application process includes filling out SEED's application form, and providing federal income tax returns for three years for the small business and the owner. The application and list of items needed is available on SEED's website, www.seedcorp.com .

SEED has administered an SBA Micro Loan Program in Massachusetts for the past 10 years with minimal charge offs. So far, SEED has made 300 micro loans totaling $6.6 million, and assisting in the creation of 865 new jobs. “SEED's micro lending experience has proven that micro loans, often ‘character' loans, do get paid back,” stated Gooch-Smith.

SEED is a non-profit economic development corporation established and certified by SBA in 1982 to assist small businesses in the region. Under various loan programs, SEED makes loans from $1,000 to $4 million to assist small businesses to grow and create jobs.

SEED also provides technical assistance to small businesses and works with other economic development organizations and financing institutions in the region to ensure that individuals who are committed to owning and operating a small business are able to obtain the assistance they need to be successful.

For more information about the SBA Micro Loan Program, the free entrepreneurial workshop and other SEED loan programs, please call 508-822-1020 or visit SEED at www.seedcorp.com.

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