MCDC receives loan commitments of $1,750,000 for microloans to small businesses

January 30, 2009
Missoula, Montana

Despite the economic slowdown, Montana businesses still have resources for starting and growing their business. The Montana Department of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration awarded the Montana Community Development Corporation (MCDC) of Missoula with significant funding for microloans to small businesses in Montana.

Department of Commerce Director Anthony Preite presented MCDC with a check for $355,856, which is the first installment of a total loan fund commitment of up to one million dollars towards MCDC’s loan pool. MCDC is slated to receive the remainder of the million dollar award through additional installments from Commerce when MCDC meets program requirements for additional matching funds and loan out rates. The award comes from Commerce’s MicroBusiness Finance Program which is designed to assist Montana Business Development Centers such as MCDC in their efforts to provide loans to qualified microbusinesses. This million dollar boost to MCDC’s loan fund comes on top of previous loan monies from the Department to MCDC of $619,144. Montana-based businesses with 10 or fewer employees and a gross annual revenue of less than $1,000,000 may apply for a microbusiness loan of up to $100,000 through MCDC.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Montana Director, Michelle Johnston, presented MCDC with a check for $750,000 for use in MCDC’s loan pool. The award comes from the SBA’s Microloan Program which is designed to assist non-profit community based lenders in making very small loans, up to $35,000 maximum, to start-ups, newly established or growing businesses in Montana. The average loan size is about $13,000. MCDC has previously received $480,489 in SBA microloan funding for small businesses.

The MCDC loan pool is used to loan money to eligible entrepreneurs who are just shy of meeting commercial bank loan requirements, but have viable business plans. MCDC loan clients include low-income people, women and minority owned businesses and people in low-income places. Since 1992 MCDC has used the Department of Commerce’s revolving loan funds to make 166 microloans, totaling 3.2 million dollars. The previous SBA revolving loan funds provided 82 loans totaling $480,489 to qualified small businesses in Montana. Well over half of those loans were to women-owned businesses. MCDC’s ability to win these government funds is due in large part to its proven track record of getting loan funds to small businesses where it’s needed most; to the people that need an extra hand in getting their small businesses off the ground.

For additional information on the $1M dollar Department of Commerce MicroBusiness Loan or the $750,000 SBA MicroBusiness Loan to MCDC contact MCDC at (406) 728-9234.