Local Small Business Grants and Loans

Mia Noren of Crosswater Strategies (lobbying partner of Oregon Winegrowers Association) provides this rundown of funding available to small businesses in Oregon. She says: “Some grant windows are open only for a few days and it can be easy to miss the application period. My recommendation is to check your local cities website regularly.”

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• MESO Small Business Loans: MESO provides loans for small businesses to be able to survive financially. KeyBank just announced a $250,000 grant to MESO to support the organizations work in Portland Gresham which will hopefully open up more grant opportunities.
  • MESO offers business loans to micro-entrepreneurs and startups.
  • Loans are between $100 and $250,000 with a fixed interest rate of 8% for all loans above $500.
  • Click here for the loan inquiry.
• Craft3 Loans: Craft3 is still accepting loan applications during this time from new customers. Check out their website for their various loan options.
• Grants Pass Emergency Assistance and Recovery Program: Grants Pass is rewarding grants up to $2,500 to businesses to help pay for lease/mortgage, utilities, payroll. Businesses must meet the following criteria:
  • Businesses with 50 employees or less would qualify for this grant assistance.
  • The business is located within the City limits or Urban Growth Boundary and has a brick and mortar storefront.
  • The business is directly affected by the government-ordered mandatory change in service (Executive Order dated March 23, 2020).
  • When applicable, the business has a lease (rental) or mortgage on their primary commercial establishment.
  • The business has a current City of Grants Pass Business and Occupation Tax.
  • Sublease’s may qualify for their prorated share of the lease/rental costs.

• Yamhill County Emergency Relief Grant: This one-time cash grant of $2,500 will be open to businesses beginning Monday, April 20 at 12:00pm through Thursday, April 23 at 12:00 pm. Businesses must meet the following criteria:
  • Impacted by mandatory change-in-service or closure order and has experienced significant financial impact
  • Operational for more than 12 months, and have 15 or fewer full-time employees
  • Business or organization has not received a city or county grant in the past 12 months
  • Business is not a national chain or franchise

• Milwaukie Business Relief Fund: This is a one-time grant up to $5,000. Preference will be given to businesses with 10 employees or less. The following criteria must be met:
  • Businesses with a current Milwaukie business license
  • Public-facing businesses (retail, coffee shop, food service, etc.) directly impacted by the governor’s executive orders, or businesses experiencing 25% or higher decline in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic

• Gilliam County Small Business Stabilization Grant: Small for-profit businesses are eligible for this grant and the money can be used on the following:
  • Employee Payroll & Benefits
  • Building Lease or Mortgage Payments (excludes home-based businesses)
  • Equipment Lease Payments
  • Utilities
  • Business Insurance
• City of La Grande Emergency Loan: Loans of up to $10,000 are available at a 1% interest rate and have deferred payments for 6 months Businesses must be within city limits and with 50 or fewer employees. Application period ends April 16 at 5:00 pm.

• Tigard CARES: Tigard is providing micro-loans of up to $1,500 and grants up to $50,000. The money can be used for fixed expenses such as rent, employee retention and inventory preparedness.

• Lane County/ Springfield/ Eugene/ Albany Emergency Loan: The first round of applications were just accepted, they are hoping to do a second round soon. The loan has an interest rate of 2%, and payments are deferred for the first 6 months.
  • For the Lane County application you must have 20 or fewer employees. The loan amount is between $5,000 and $30,000.
  • For the Albany application you must have fewer than 40 employees. The loan amount is between $5,000 and $15,000. Businesses must have already applied or commit to applying for an SBA loan.

• Hillsboro, Beaverton, and Gresham Small Business Emergency Relief Programs: These cities just completed a round of funding but there is discussion of doing another round of applications.

Business Oregon Grants and Loans

• Entrepreneurial Development Loan Fund (EDLF): offers direct loans to help start-ups, micro-enterprises and small businesses expand or become established in Oregon.
• Oregon Business Development Fund (OBDF): provides direct loans that can be used for permanent working capital. Participants must create or retain jobs and must typically be a traded-sector business in manufacturing, processing or distribution.
• Oregon Royalty Fund (ORF): provides direct loans to help early stage (post R & D and prototyping), scalable, and high-margin small businesses obtain short-term working capital.
• Capital Access (CAP): provides a form of loan portfolio loss reserve so financial institutions may make business loans that carry higher than conventional risks while complying with federal and state banking regulations.
• Credit Enhancement Fund (CEF): provides loan guarantees to financial institutions in order to increase capital availability to small businesses.