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West Palm Beach announces small business, women and minority business recovery assistance program

Dozens of Florida small businesses granted emergency bridge loans amid COVID-19's economic crisis
Posted at 6:22 PM, Oct 06, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-06 18:25:00-04

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The City of West Palm Beach announced Wednesday it is offering a new loan program to help small businesses and minority-/woman-owned businesses recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program aims to provide eligible businesses with microloans between $5,000 and $20,000 to help them recover from epidemic-related shortfalls.

Businesses certified by the city as Small Business Enterprise, SBE, and/or Minority/Woman Business Enterprise (MWBE) will be eligible to apply for a 60-month microloan with an interest rate of up to 10%.

Program eligibility requirements for applicants are as follow:

  • Business must be located within the city’s jurisdiction,
  • Be legally authorized to do business within the city by virtue of a valid business license,
  • Be certified as a SBE and/or M/WBE with the city,
  • Properties must be free of any city lien encumbrances and code violations,
  • Property taxes on the property must be current if the business owner is the property owner,
  • Business must have been opened and be operational for a minimum of 18 months at loan closing,
  • Business gross annual revenues cannot exceed $1,000,000,
  • Credit score of over 580 is required to qualify,
  • Business liquid assets of under $150,000.

For information on how to do business with the city, click here. To learn more about the program, call 561-822-1273 or TTY 800-955-8771.