Megan Baumgartner had a very pleasant job to complete during the afternoon of Friday, May 8 – she had the duty to inform 73 local business owners that they are approved for the city’s COVID-19 small business loan program. However, she had another responsibility – notify the 20 businesses that were not approved for the loan.
Baumgartner
A total of 93 local small businesses in Fishers applied and 73 were approved. A five-member panel made the decisions on which businesses were approved and how much they will receive in loans, and also which businesses will not receive the loan. The committee consisted of members from the Fishers Redevelopment Commission, representatives of the OneZone Chamber of Commerce and the Chairman of the City Council Finance Committee. The loan application deadline was last weekend and the committee reviewed all the applications in a matter of days.
Baumgartner, Director of Economic Development for the City of Fishers, says only a few business owners received the maximum $15,000 loan, with most in the $7,500 range. The city funded the loan program with $500,000 received from a previous Economic Development deal. Had the loan program not been developed, the $500,000 would have been used in the city’s economic development efforts.
Of the businesses with loan approvals, about 30 percent were personal service operations, such as salons and spas. Another 30 percent consisted of restaurants and retail operations. The remaining 40 percent were gyms and providers of other personal services.
Baumgartner says those approved for the city’s small business loan program should begin to receive the money in the next two to three days.
The approved small business loans have very favorable terms, but they must be paid back. The 1 percent interest does not begin running, and payments are not due, until six months after the payout, then payments are due for the following three years.
City officials plan to announce the names of those businesses approved for loans, but will not disclose the loan amount. A $5,000 grant from Duke Energy allowed the city to add the 73rd business loan approval.
On another issue, Baumgartner says the ongoing construction for current economic development projects in Fishers have not been slowed by the novel coronavirus. However, she added that some new economic development announcements have been put on hold for now due to the economic slowdown due to COVID-19.
You can listen to the entire podcast interview with Megan Baumgartner at this link.