Appendix
Commonly Used Acronyms
Small Business Lending Programs
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 Loan Program offers small businesses an avenue for business financing, while promoting business growth, and job creation. This program has proven success and beneficial to small businesses, communities, and participating lenders.
SBA 504 loans are made available through Certified Development Companies (CDCs), SBA's community-based partners. CDCs are certified and regulated by the SBA, and work with SBA and participating lenders (typically banks and credit unions) to provide financing to small businesses, which in turn, accomplishes the goal of community economic development. Frontier Community Resources Corporation (RIVDC) has been designated by SBA as a CDC in Idaho since 1984.
The SBA 504 Loan Program provides small businesses with long-term, fixed rate financing for fixed assets (real estate, equipment, and refinancing). Financing for a typical SBA 504 loan is broken into three parts, with 10 to 20% put down by the borrower. An additional 30 to 40% is provided by the CDC/SBA. The remaining 50% is provided by a banking partner. Since 1984, Frontier has funded 333 SBA 504 loans totaling $137.6 million.
EDA Revolving Loan Program
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration provides grants to eligible recipients to capitalize or recapitalize lending programs that service businesses that cannot otherwise obtain traditional bank financing. These grant programs can deliver small business loans which provide access to capital as gap financing to enable small businesses to grow and generate new employment opportunities with competitive wages and benefits. Financing also helps retain jobs that might otherwise be lost, create wealth, and support minority and women-owned businesses. Through this program, business owners can borrower up to $250,000 for real estate, equipment, inventory, and/or working capital. Interest rates are set at competitive market rates with terms up to seven years for working capital, 10 years for equipment, and 20 years for real estate.
Frontier has managed revolving loan fund programs since 1987. EDA provided a $800,000 grant to Frontier and $302,000 was raised as local match through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Since 1987, Frontier has funded 167 loans totaling $10.5 million in financing. In June 2021, $3 million of the RLF funds were defederalized, allowing Frontier greater flexibility in the use of these funds for economic development activities.