BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

CANTON -- The town is revising its revolving USDA Business Loan Program to make it available as a COVID-19 relief fund for local businesses.

The town council voted to approve the revisions at its regular meeting Wednesday, May 13 held on the Zoom platform. The revisions were developed and presented to the town board by a joint committee of the town council and Canton village board of trustees which oversees the application process of the program.

The revised program, dubbed The Town of Canton COVID-19 Recovery Program, would provide loans of up to $10,000 for five years at zero percent interest, with no loan payments due for 6 months.

The town currently has $74,705 in the existing revolving loan program to provide to qualified businesses who submit an application which gets approved.

"The committee, the joint shared services economic development committee and Leigh (Rodriguez, Canton economic development director) have been working on revamping it as the Town of Canton COVID-19 Recovery Program," said Town Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley.

"Basically it's been reworked so we can offer businesses, small businesses, some loans because of the impact of COVID," Ashley said.

"We've designed an additional tract if you will to our existing loan program, revolving loan fund, to address the needs of the current situation," Rodriquez said. The economic director said the program would allow existing businesses, not start-ups or businesses that have been in existence for less than 6 months, to obtain a loan to help address costs associated with reopening from the governor's COVID-19 shutdown.

Rodriguez said the program also allows businesses with more than 10 full-time employees to get up to $1,000 for each full-time employee up to a maximum of $25,000. There would be an application fee for loans over the $10,000 amount.

"So it’s really targeting the smaller businesses in the community," Rodriquez said.

"And, eligible uses of the funds are working capital, and expenses related to procedures and new things that are needed to comply with the new restrictions and the new guidelines. If there's things for sanitation, if there's protective equipment that's needed. If there's signage and things like that where they need to relay the message to customers. Things related to this new reality."

Rodriguez said there were several things that have been available to businesses since the health crisis from other sources. However, this newly revised town-run program is focused more on getting money out to businesses quickly and easily as the economy comes back online to help through the transition period.

Rodriguez said the USDA has given the municipality the "okay" on the revised scope of work for the program.

"Just a caveat to the businesses, this is not a loan that is going to turn into a grant," said Town Councilman Tim Danehy who sits on the economic development committee. "This money would still have to be… it's at zero percent interest… but it would still require repayment."

The town board also appointed an advisory committee to review loan applications from businesses for the relief program. The committee members include Linden Allen, Ben Dixon, William Irven, Brian Gardem and John Gray.

The town board will have final say on loan approval with recommendations from the advisory committee.

Rodriguez suggested that the town handle the loan documents in house using a template devised by the town attorney.

Danehy pointed out that the fund is a revolving loan fund drawing from a limited pool of money and will be essentially "first-come-first-served" for businesses that apply.

With a few details left to work out, Rodriguez estimated the revised program could be ready to launch in a couple weeks.

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