COVID-19 Relief Loan Fund offers loans up to $3,000 with deferred payment
The City of Roanoke has announced a plan to assist City-based small businesses facing challenges as the result of the COVID 19 pandemic. Through a partnership with the Roanoke Economic Development Authority (EDA) and Total Action for Progress (TAP), Business Seed Capital, Inc. (BSCI) loans up to $3,000 each will be available to offset costs associated with employees, rent, leases, and utilities. Terms of the loans will be 0% interest with a 12-month maturity and a 90-day deferred payment.
“Roanoke’s COVID 19 Relief Loan Fund is intended to help businesses as quickly as possible. To this end, Total Action for Progress has agreed to deploy its BSCI Program to streamline the application process for applicants,” said Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell.
Eligibility Criteria for the funding is as follows:
- Funds are to be used for Roanoke City based employees, rent, lease, or utilities of Roanoke City location,
- The applicant’s primary business location must be within the City of Roanoke, although the owner may reside elsewhere,
- The business must be:
- At least two years old
- Have less than 25 full-time employees
- Hold a current Roanoke City Business License and be current on all fees, permits, and taxes as of Feb. 29, 2020,
- Applicant must own at least 50% of business and provide a personal guarantee of repayment in the form of the Note,
- Applicant must submit eight weeks of past payroll expenses, two years of financial statements and tax returns, and two years of personal tax returns.
“The Economic Development Authority is honored to support this local partnership initiative to assist our small businesses during these unprecedented times. It is an example of how our respective entities can quickly come together and make decisions that have an immediate impact on businesses and employees based in the City of Roanoke,” said Roanoke EDA Chair Braxton Naff.
To learn more about the COVID 19 Relief Loan Fund and to apply, contact Curtis Thompson, TAP, at 540-589-6483 or by email at [email protected]; or Sean Adkins in the City’s Department of Economic Development at 540-853-5405 or by email at [email protected].
Formed in 1968 by Roanoke City Council, the Economic Development Authority (EDA) is an Industrial Development Authority existing under the Virginia Industrial Development and Revenue Bond Act. Seven directors, serving staggered four-year terms, work closely with the City of Roanoke’s Department of Economic Development to serve the business community of the City.
Total Action for Progress (TAP) is a community action agency that serves eleven localities in the Roanoke Valley and adjacent communities: the counties of Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt, Craig, Roanoke, and Rockbridge, and the cities of Buena Vista, Covington, Lexington, Roanoke, and Salem. TAP offers direct services, working with individuals and families, to help them overcome their problems and improve their lives, with the goal of helping them assert themselves as advocates for their own needs.
###