Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 15, 2014 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 8 -a <br />SUBJECT: Report on Orange County's "Small Business Loan Program" <br />DEPARTMENT: Economic Development PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No <br />Manager's Office <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1. Bylaws of Orange County Small <br />Business Loan Program <br />2. Operating Policies & Procedures of <br />Orange County Small Business <br />Loan Program, Revised 1/13/12 <br />3. Orange County Economic <br />Development's New Marketing <br />Brochure for Small Business Loan <br />Program <br />4. Ad Design Proposed for Local <br />Media <br />1 <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Clarence Grier, Assistant County <br />Manager & CFO, (919) 245 -2453 <br />Steve Brantley, Economic Development, <br />(919) 245 -2326 <br />PURPOSE: To receive a report on the "Small Business Loan Program ", including details on <br />current balances and activity, and receive information on the Economic Development Office's <br />new marketing efforts to increase awareness and demand for the program by potential small <br />business borrowers in Orange County. <br />BACKGROUND: In 2000 the Small Business Loan Program was created to provide loans for <br />small businesses to help stimulate the creation of jobs for Orange County residents, as well as <br />support successful business development and expansion in Orange County. The intent of this <br />Program is to provide an alternative funding option to small, local companies that have difficulty <br />obtaining traditional bank funding, but which meet the requirements of the Program's loan fund. <br />Orange County's original $150,000 funding commitment to the Program was to cover the loan <br />loss reserve of the original loan pool. After several modifications to the Program structure, the <br />Orange County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously approved, on March 13, <br />2007, the transfer of $75,000 from the Program loan loss reserve account to the Orange County <br />Small Business Loan Company to fund this mission. The BOCC also approved the transfer of <br />an additional $75,000 to the Company so that the full $150,000 originally committed to the <br />Program was available for lending to small businesses in Orange County. <br />On March 10, 2009 the Program's Board of Directors unanimously agreed to issue the first loan <br />in the amount of $50,000. The recipient of this loan was a small start -up service firm offering <br />