Mission:

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, the Franklin County Community Foundation and private donors have established the COVID-19 Small Business Emergency Forgivable Loan Program. The program is intended to provide quick access to operating capital to small businesses in Franklin County whose operations and cash flow have been negatively impacted by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Eligibility:

 

In order to qualify for a loan all applicant businesses must:

• Operate within Franklin County.

• Have 50 or fewer employees (FTE, full-time employees)

• Have been in business for two years or have received bank financing.

• No federal or state liens and no outstanding judgments

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Loan Terms:

 

• Range – Working Capital loan requests from $2,500 to $10,000 will be considered.

• Repayment Terms – Borrower will make repayment in amount of 1% of loan principal per month beginning 6 months after receipt of funding. Should the borrower:

1) make regular and on-time payments,

2) submit documents attesting funds were used for fixed-type costs, such a payroll, rent, mortgage, utilities or other loan payments pursuant to the business, and

3) the business operates successfully through December 31, 2021, then the remaining balance and lending requirements will be forgiven.

• Interest Rate – The interest rate is 0%.

• Tax Liability – The borrower will be responsible for the tax liability on the forgivable portion of the loan. Upon completion, the borrower will receive a 1099 tax form.

• Collateral – loans are unsecured.

• Delinquency – ALL monthly loan payments are required to be made via ACH on the due date, which will be established at loan closing. Franklin County Chamber of Commerce will initiate all monthly ACH loan transactions; a loan becomes delinquent if the receiving bank returns the transaction for any reason (i.e. insufficient funds, closed account, etc…).

• Default – Events of default include (but are not limited to) representation or warranty made in writing on the loan application and/or supporting documents that is materially false; filing voluntarily or involuntarily for bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, or readjustment of the business’s debts; the dissolution of the business by the Indiana Secretary of State, or in the case of a foreign entity, a revocation business’s authorization to transact business in the State of Indiana; the business discontinues actively conducting business in Franklin County; and death.

• Conditions – Applied for terms will be considered by the Loan Review Committee (LRC) during its review of the application; if approved, loan terms may differ from the requested terms in this loan application.

• Reservation of Rights – The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, at their discretion, retain the right to make an exception to any of the terms and criteria in this application.

• Press – If your loan is approved, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce may issue a press release about your business and how it plans to use the loan funds.

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APPLICATION PROCESS

 

Businesses interested in applying for a forgivable loan should complete the loan application and submit all supporting documents. The LRC will review applications and notify applicants of its decision as soon as possible.

 

It is highly recommended that all application documents be submitted electronically via ShareFile established by the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. Please contact the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce at: info@fcchamber.net for submittal instructions. The LRC will review loan applications and all supporting documents uploaded to this service.

 

If you do not have access to a scanner, there are free applications for your cell phone: Adobe Acrobat Reader or Genius Scan. You can scan (take a picture) of documents with your phone then send via email. If approved, a virtual closing will be coordinated with the applicant. All related loan documents will be signed by borrower and scanned back to info@fcchamber.net. Scanned documents are legal and binding

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Download Program Application HERE.