PORT CLINTON – As Gov. Mike DeWine takes additional measures in an effort to slow the surge of the coronavirus, officials in Ottawa County are reminding small business owners about opportunities for relief.
The Ottawa County Regional Planning Commission’s revolving loan fund, or RLF, has a balance of around $428,000 that it is looking to lend to businesses.
Mark Messa, director of regional planning, said while a few applications for RLF loans are pending, even after those go through as expected, there still will be in the neighborhood $300,000-$325,000 available.
Messa described the fund as “holding steady” over this past year.
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Another local revolving loan fund created just this year amid the pandemic is the city of Port Clinton’s, which recently had its first applicant nearing completion.
According to Dina Shenker, Port Clinton law director, the city’s revolving loan fund board reviewed the application and plan submitted by the business owner, and reached a joint consensus to have it go before City Council, which is responsible for appropriating funds, for final authorization.
The plan includes improvements to the outside of a building, Shenker said.
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One source of funds that has been seeing a lot of continued activity is Ottawa County’s Small Business Relief grant program.
According to Ottawa County Commissioner Mark Coppeler, as of last week the program has awarded 41 grants totaling $197,600.
The money for that program was appropriated from Ottawa County’s share of federal funds made available through the CARES Act, which have since been distributed by state legislators.
According to Coppeler, the county grants primarily targeted local businesses impacted by the shutdowns in March and April.
“We were glad that we could do that,” Coppeler said. “Hopefully, in a small way, we helped out some of these businesses.”
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Read More: Ottawa County revolving loan fund still has more than $300,000 to give