Stimulus Funding
The Stimulus Funding section includes loan and bond programs and grant opportunities for Oklahoma businesses offered through the 2009 Recovery Act and administered by a variety of federal and state agencies. You'll find a brief description of these opportunities and contact information for more detail and applications.
Please check back from time to time to see what's new since this is not yet a complete list of opportunities. Other good sources include: www.ok.gov/recovery, www.recovery.gov, www.grants.gov, and www.fedbizopps.gov. To set up an RSS feed for Grants.gov, click here.
Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) (top)
Through funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), small businesses have access to more money, and the U.S. SBA can address key contracting and investment issues.
2009 Recovery Act Q&A about SBA Loan Programs
Quick Guide to SBA Financial Assistance
Oklahoma SBA District Office
301 NW 6th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
(405) 609-8000
www.sba.gov/ok
2009 Recovery Act Changes to SBA Financial Assistance
90 Percent Guarantee
SBA can now raise its loan guarantee from current levels to as much as 90% for some loans. Before the 2009 Recovery Act, SBA guaranteed loans up to 85% on loans up to $150,000, and up to 75% on loans greater than $150,000. The 50% guarantee on SBA Express loans remains unchanged. Increasing the SBA guarantee percentage encourages lenders to extend more capital to small businesses by increasing the share covered by an SBA guarantee.
Business Stabilization Loans
This new SBA loan program provides deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000 to viable small businesses that need money to make payments on existing, qualifying loans for up to six months. These loans are 100% guaranteed by SBA. Repayment won’t begin until 12 months after the loan is fully disbursed.
Microloans
New Intermediaries Will Provide Greater Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs
With the 2009 Recovery Act funding an additional $50 million for loans and $24 million for technical assistance, the U.S. Small Business Administration expanded its Microloan program and increased access to capital for small businesses across the country.
SBA uses the additional resources to add new lenders and encourage entrepreneurs to seek SBA-backed microlenders to finance their businesses. SBA has approved eight new applications from lenders to join the Microloan Program, and has 15 new loans to microlenders for $10.7 million in Recovery Act funds ready to be disbursed. Of the 15, eight are for new microlenders.
The approved new microlenders are: Vermont Community Loan Fund, Inc. of Montpellier, Vt; Neighborhood Development Center of Saint Paul, Minn.; Cen- Tex Certified Development Corp. of Austin, Texas; The Emperor Organization of Tallahassee, Fla.; Staunton Creative Community Fund, Inc. of Staunton, Va.; Lane MicroBusiness (d.b.a. Dev) of Eugene, Ohio; FINANTA (American Street Financial Ser.) of Philadelphia, Pa; and Accion USA, Inc. of New York, N.Y.
SBA’s Microloan Program supports microlenders by providing them with up to $3.5 million in low-cost loans from SBA to finance their lending to small businesses. SBA’s interest rate to microlenders is based on the five-year Treasury rate, with adjustments tied to a microlender’s average loan size.
Microlenders use the SBA funding to provide loans of up to $35,000 to entrepreneurs, which can be used for working capital and acquisition of materials, supplies, furniture, fixtures and equipment. SBA also provides grant funding to microlenders to finance technical assistance and counseling programs for their borrowers, including staff, classroom training and occupancy costs. SBA’s reimbursement is capped at 25 percent of the microlender’s outstanding SBA loan portfolio. Complete Microloan Details
Refinancing
Small businesses seeking to expand can now refinance existing loans used to purchase real estate and other fixed assets as a result of permanent changes to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Certified Development Company loan program. The changes were authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The permanent changes allow small businesses to restructure eligible debt to help improve their cash flow which, in turn, enhances their viability and support growth and job creation. The 504 loan program can be used to purchase business real estate or fixed assets, such as heavy equipment or machinery, and expand current development projects.
The 504 loan program is administered through 271 Certified Development Companies across the nation. SBA has published the changes as a permanent rule in the Federal Register. Legislation allows 504 program projects to include a limited amount of debt refinancing if there is a business expansion and the debt refinanced does not exceed 50 percent of the projected cost of the expansion.
Additionally, on June 15, SBA ARC loans became available for viable small businesses facing immediate financial hardship. For more information on the 504 or ARC loan programs and eligibility requirements, go to www.sba.gov/recovery.
Secondary Market Expansion
SBA will establish a secondary market for pools of first-lien loans under the 504 program. These first-lien loans from commercial lenders currently lack SBA guarantee. However, the 2009 Recovery Act authorizes SBA to use federal guarantees for pools of first-lien loans, so they can be sold to investors in a secondary market. SBA can also set up a Secondary Market Lending Authority that could make direct loans to broker-dealers that participate in the secondary market for SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans. The secondary market expansion may ultimately help SBA lenders make new loans to borrowers.
Investment Program--SBIC
Under the 2009 Recovery Act, small businesses that would otherwise have difficulty securing private equity or venture capital may find funding easier to get as a result of recent changes made to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.
"The Recovery Act expands SBA's venture capital program to increase the pool of investment funding available to the Small Business Investment Companies licensed by SBA," says SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. "We believe those companies will be better equipped by these changes to help sustain and grow small businesses for their next important growth steps."
SBICs are privately owned and managed venture capital firms, which are licensed and regulated by SBA. SBICs use a combination of funds raised from private sources and money raised through the use of SBA guarantees to make equity and mezzanine capital investments in small businesses. There are about 338 SBICs with $17.4 billion in capital under management.
The changes made as part of the Recovery Act are:
•The Recovery Act makes SBICs eligible for greater SBA guaranteed funding and requires SBICs to invest 25 percent of their investment dollars into "smaller" businesses. Also, the amount of funding an SBIC may invest in a single small business is set at 10 percent of an SBIC’s total capital rather than the previous limit of 20 percent of an SBIC’s private capital only. This translates to an effective 50 percent increase in funding available to a single business by an SBIC.
•Maximum SBA funding levels to SBICs increase up to three times the private capital raised by the SBIC, up to a maximum of $150 million for single SBICs, or up to $225 million for multiple SBICs that are under common control. The cap for all licensees was set at $137.1 million before the Recovery Act.
•These limits are even higher for SBICs that are licensed after October 1, 2009, that certify that at least 50 percent of their investments will be made in small businesses located in low-income areas, up to $175 million for single licensees and up to $250 million for jointly controlled multiple licensees.
SBICs in Oklahoma
Surety Bonds
Building on Recovery Act provisions implemented earlier this year, the U.S. Small Business Administration now provides surety bond guarantees on federal contracts valued up to $10 million.
Through SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee program, SBA guarantees bid, payment and performance bonds. Surety bonds protect the project owner against financial loss if contractors default or fail to perform. SBA partners with the surety industry to help small businesses that would otherwise be unable to obtain bonding in the traditional commercial
marketplace.
Under the partnership, SBA provides a guarantee to a participating surety company of between 70% and 90% of the bond amount.
Currently, under a related provision of the Recovery Act implemented in March, SBA provides bond guarantees up to $5 million through September 2010 on all public and private contracts and subcontracts.
Surety Bond Guarantee Program Details
Loans for Oklahoma Businesses (top)
U.S. Department of Energy To Provide Billions in Loan Guarantees for Renewable Energy Projects
Applications Accepted over the Next 45 Days (Beginning July 31)
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to provide up to $30 billion in loan guarantees, depending on the applications and market conditions, for renewable energy projects. Another $750 million will support several billion dollars more in loan guarantees for projects that increase the reliability, efficiency and security of the nation's transmission system.
Applications for these loan guarantees will be accepted until Monday, August 14. How To Apply
The two new loan guarantee solicitations are being funded partly through the Recovery Act and partly through 2009 appropriations. The lending authority includes up to $8.5 billion supported by 2009 annual appropriations for renewable energy as well as up to $2 billion in subsidy costs, provided by the Recovery Act, to support billions in loans for renewable energy and electric power transmission projects.
It also includes up to $500 million in subsidy costs to support loans for cutting edge biofuel projects funded by the Recovery Act and up to $750 million in subsidy costs, provided by the Recovery Act, to support loans for large transmission infrastructure projects in the U.S. that use commercial technologies and begin construction by September 30, 2011.
Contact:
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
1-800-342-5363
www.doe.gov
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development Office Loan Guarantee Program for Biorefineries
The 2009 Recovery Act establishes loan guarantees through the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development Office, www.rurdev.usda.gov, to fund the development, construction, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries using eligible technology. The maximum loan guarantee is $250 million. Mandatory funding is available through FY2012.
Contact:
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development Office (Oklahoma)
100 USDA, Suite 108
Stillwater, OK 74074
405-742-1000
www.rurdev.usda.gov/ok
Competitive Grants for Oklahoma Businesses (top)
On-the-Job-Training Grants
Oklahoma's competitive future depends on building a knowledge-based economy anchored by high-tech and service industries. This new economy places unprecedented demands on the state's workforce and requires a commitment to lifelong learning and continuous on-the-job training.
The 2009 Recovery Act makes available various on-the-job-training grants that Oklahoma businesses can use to retrain and upskill their employees.
These grants are being administered by your local Workforce Oklahoma Center and Workforce Investment Board .
National Institute of Standards and Technology-Technology Innovation Program (TIP)
Oklahoma small- and medium-sized businesses, universities, and research consortia now have a new competitive opportunity for federal funding under the Technology Innovation Program.
TIP, a cost-shared federal financial assistance program, funds small- to medium-sized businesses, universities, and research consortia on a competitive basis to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research areas of critical national need.
The FY2009 competition focuses on opportunities associated with "Accelerating the Incorporation of Materials Advances into Manufacturing Processes," and "Advanced Sensing Technologies and Advanced Repair Materials for Infrastructure: Water Systems, Dams, Levees, Bridges, Roads, and Highways."
TIP expects to give awards of up to $3 million for single applicants and up to $9 million for joint ventures. A total of $25 million is now available in first-year funding for this competition.
TIP officials plan to hold 4 regional information sessions and webcasts for potential applicants. For a schedule of these sessions and webcasts and for full detail about the FY2009 competition, visit www.nist.gov/tip. You can also sign up to receive announcements and details on future competitions.
U.S. Department of the Treasury Now Accepting ITC Grant Applications
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Energy are (as of Friday, July 31) accepting applications for the estimated $3 billion available for the development of renewable energy projects around the country.
Funded through the 2009 Recovery Act, the program provides direct payments in lieu of tax credits to support an estimated 5,000 bio-mass, solar, wind, and other types of renewable energy production facilities.
The Recovery Act authorized Treasury to make direct payments to companies that create and place in service renewable energy facilities beginning January 1, 2009.
The ITC is considered a successful incentive for encouraging the development of renewable energy. In 2006, about $550 million in tax credits were provided to 450 businesses.
Under the ITC tax credit incentive program, eligible businesses (wind power facility developers and/or operators, for example) can claim a 30% ITC (section 48 of the tax code, the same incentive currently available to solar) in lieu of the PTC for facilities placed in service in 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012. Using this option allows renewable energy facilities to be leased, or subject to a sale and leaseback, without a loss of the credit.
To apply for the ITC grants (direct payments instead of the tax credits), go to https://treas1603.nrel.gov/.
Contact:
The Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
202-622-2000
www.ustreas.gov/recovery
USDA Rural Development Office (www.rurdev.usda.gov)
Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program (RBEG)
The 2009 Recovery Act provides $20 million for the RBEG to finance and facilitate the development of small and emerging rural businesses, provide financial assistance for rural distance learning networks, and fund adult education programs, particularly those projects that provide job advancement or potential employment opportunities.
Primarily a training and technical assistance program, the RBEG provides funding for rural small businesses to develop export markets, to conduct feasibility studies, to develop long-term trade strategies; to fund community economic development planning, business training, and business-based technical assistance for rural entrepreneurs and business managers and to establish rural business incubators and provide assistance with technology based economic development.
Project examples include: the identification/analysis of business opportunities that use local material and human resources; leadership development training to existing or prospective rural entrepreneurs and managers; business support centers; centers for training, technology and export trade; and, economic development planning.
Contact:
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development Office (Oklahoma)
100 USDA, Suite 108
Stillwater, OK 74074
405-742-1000
www.rurdev.usda.gov/ok
U.S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)
Electric Drive Vehicle Battery & Component Manufacturing Grant
Under the 2009 Recovery Act, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), on behalf of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Vehicle Technologies (VT) Program, has grants available to support the construction of U.S.-based manufacturing plants that produce batteries and electric drive components. The grants can also be used to expand production capacity at existing plants.
Grant applications are due May 19. Complete details and an application
If you have trouble accessing the electronic files, contact Kelly McDonald, 304-285-4113, Kelly.McDonald@netl.doe.gov.
Contact:
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
1-800-342-5363
www.doe.gov