PORT ANGELES — Small-business owners having trouble attaining financing in this struggling economy will soon have another place to go: the Olympic Finance Development Authority.
The organization, which has formed slowly over the past two years, has attained about $1 million in state and federal funding and expects to begin issuing loans this fall.
It has a board made up of the directors of economic development councils in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and Mason counties, four business representatives and one at-large position.
Its purpose, said board President Linda Rotmark, is to provide “gap financing” for entrepreneurs and existing business owners.
What that means, she said, is that the loans will be used to provide financing that banks don’t cover but recipients need to start a business or expand.
“We don’t supplant them,” Rotmark said last week. “We supplement them.”
Rotmark is also the Clallam County Economic Development Council executive director.
Help recovery
Rogers Weed, state Department of Commerce director, said last week that such loan programs will help the state’s economy recover.
“They can provide low-cost loans that can help either something start up . . . or get through a rough patch and get through,” he said.
The organization received its own financing mainly by taking over a Commerce loan program worth $800,000 and from a U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development grant.
It is accepting loan requests and so far has received one $10,000 request from a small business in Kitsap County, Rotmark said.
Interest rates have not been determined, she said.
Loans are available for business owners in all four counties represented on the board and Pacific, Grays Harbor and Wahkiakum counties.
One of the criteria for lending is that a job will be created for each $10,000 to $15,000 borrowed, Rotmark said.
“It’s all about jobs,” she said.
Rotmark said the organization is developing a risk pool for failed loans.
To inquire about a loan, phone Rotmark at 360-457-7793.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.