The California Rebuilding Fund, a loan program designed to target certain small businesses throughout the state, is taking applications through Nov. 15 in its effort to dole out $15 million.
The new funding reopened the program for this last round of applications. The round will close ahead of schedule if the available money is exhausted. To date, the program has distributed nearly $80 million.
The California Rebuilding Fund is a public-private partnership that offers low-interest and fixed-rate recovery loans to businesses with 50 or fewer full-time employees and less than $5 million in annual gross revenue. The fund targets small businesses in “economically disadvantaged and historically under-banked” areas of California.
Michael Weintraub, owner of Tarzana-based online women’s fashion discounter AfterRetail, received a $100,000 loan from the program in April.
Weintraub, who was previously limited to purchase orders of $5,000-$10,000, said he’s been able to double that and “get into the big leagues” with Nordstrom Rack and other discounters, which he said will help his business recover.
“I’m a small guy. I feed in the same trough that those guys do, but I’m more selective in what I buy,” he said. “Having this loan allowed me to step into an arena where I otherwise couldn’t compete. I’m making larger buys with a designer I would never be able to approach because they don’t want to deal with smaller people.”
Maximum loan amounts are $100,000, or up to 100% of the average monthly revenue for any three-month period from January 2019 through the date of the application. The fixed interest rate is the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate plus 1%. Terms of the loan run for either three or five years.
Funds from the loans can be used for working capital, inventory, marketing, rent, supplies and other uses. The money may not be used for refinancing loans from other community lenders, though it may be used to refinance high-cost debt.
