Columbia program awards loans to small businesses
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia program has awarded 18 small businesses with $5,000 loans each.
The businesses applied for the Microenterprise Recovery Loan Program in April. The program received such an overwhelming response that the program stopped accepting applications after just four hours.
To qualify, each business had to have five or fewer employees and either be owned by a low-to-moderate income owner or maintain 51% or more low-to-moderate income employee positions.
Housing Programs Manager Randy Cole said the businesses assisted maintained 49 jobs, 42 of which are low-to-moderate income jobs.
The businesses that received the forgivable loans are:
- Bronze by Design
- Scott's Baked Goods
- Gravity
- Boone Olive Oil Company
- Marriage and Family Counseling Center
- New Beginnings Consignment Clothing
- Makes Scents Essentials
- Rockin Rents
- Route B Barber Shop
- Shortwave Coffee
- Exclusive Cuts
- One to One Print Shop
- Studio 209
- Carlitos
- Jessica Newsome Barber
- Bear Creek Dental
- DAS Services
- Ozark Mountain Biscuit Company
Cole said the $90,000 for the project came from projects from the previous year that are either delayed or no longer moving forward.
Cole said he hopes they can offer another round of money for more businesses.
