St. Paul, MN - Yesterday, Governor Walz signed Executive Order 20-15, authorizing the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to establish a Small Business Emergency Loan program for small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program will make loans between $2,500 and $35,000 available for qualifying small businesses. The loans will be 50% forgivable, and offered at a 0% interest rate. If other financing becomes available to small businesses that received an emergency loan, such as federal funding, the emergency loan must be repaid.
“Minnesotans are working incredibly hard to weather this storm, and once it’s behind us we need to make sure our small businesses are able to open their doors,” said State Representative Dan Wolgamott (DFL – St. Cloud). “These small businesses are the backbone of our community, and I applaud Governor Walz’s steadfast leadership in delivering the emergency aid these businesses need right now.”
These emergency loans will be made available by an existing network of lenders DEED works with across the state. Depending on the size of the loans offered to businesses, DEED estimates this emergency loan program will provide needed resources to between 1,200 and 5,000 businesses. DEED expects loan applications will be available later this week through their lender network. Minnesota small businesses should send questions about this emergency loan program to ELP@state.mn.us.
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