Mayor Palmieri has announced the first round of loans for local businesses that applied for the city’s Economic Stimulus Loan Program.
The Economic Stimulus Loan Program was designed as a safety net for local businesses that were not eligible for federal assistance. The city has received 91 eligible applications. Fortunately, 63 of these businesses were able to secure federal assistance.
All of the remaining 28 applications have been approved and these businesses will receive a no interest loan that can convert to a grant if certain criteria are met.
The city still has funding available and is accepting applications on a rolling basis. The criteria and guidelines of the loan program are as follows;

• Business must be located in the City of Utica.
• Business must have 25 employees or less and funding is tied to the retention of low to moderate-income employees.
• Maximum loan for an individual business is $10,000. All loans will have zero interest.
• Loan can convert to a grant if specific criteria is met, including business owners keeping their staff on payroll (funds are not meant to replace lost sales or profits). The business owner must provide a good faith certification of funding usage and payroll information must be provided as verification.
• No Personal Guarantees will be required (however collateral will be required).
• The City will provide the loan proceeds within 1-2 weeks depending on completeness of application and other loan materials.
• All federal job retention guidelines must be followed throughout the process.

In addition, the city offered forbearance on fifteen eligible loans that were allocated to local businesses prior to the Coronavirus outbreak. Of the fifteen eligible businesses, twelve enrolled in the forbearance program and will not make principal loan payments or interest for three months.

A loan application can be found at www.cityofutica.com. Any questions regarding the city’s program can be directed to Economic Development Specialist Jack Spaeth at (315) 792-0181 or via e-mail, jspaeth@cityofutica.com.
Mayor Palmieri stated, “I am pleased that many businesses in our community were able to secure federal assistance. Our Administration designed the Economic Stimulus Loan Program to ensure that businesses that weren’t eligible for federal assistance didn’t fall through the cracks. We are still taking applications, and I encourage Utica business owners to apply.”

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