WASHINGTON
– Starting today, June 15, SBA will begin accepting loans for a temporary
new program called America’s Recovery Capital. “ARC” loans of up
to $35,000 are designed to provide a “bridge” for viable small businesses
with immediate financial hardship – to keep their doors open until they get
back on track.
“These ARC loans are another tool in
the SBA toolkit which will provide critical support to small businesses struggling
to make it through these tough economic times,” said Administrator Karen
G. Mills.
ARC loans are deferred-payment loans of up to
$35,000, available to established, viable, for-profit small businesses that need
short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing and
qualifying business debt. ARC loans are 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA and
have no SBA fees associated with them.
ARC loans will be
disbursed over a period of up to six months and will provide funds to be used
for payments of principal and interest for existing, qualifying small business
debt including mortgages, term and revolving lines of credit, capital leases,
credit card obligations and notes payable to vendors, suppliers and utilities.
SBA will pay the interest on ARC loans to the lenders at the variable rate of
Prime plus two percent.
Repayment will not begin until 12 months after the
final disbursement. After the 12-month deferral period, borrowers will pay back
the loan principal over a period of five years.
ARC loans
will be made by commercial lenders, not SBA directly. For more information on
ARC loans, visit www.sba.gov
For
more information about all of the SBA’s programs for small businesses, call
the SBA Answer Desk at 1-800 U ASK SBA or TDD 704-344-6640, or visit the SBA’s
Web site at http://www.sba.gov.
