On Friday, the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation announced the establishment of the COVID-19 Recovery: Urbana Small Business Microloan Fund. The loan fund aims to help entrepreneurs and small businesses in Urbana afford financial services.
To establish the microloan fund, the city of Urbana committed $250,000 of its funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal bill to aid economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, to the microloan supply.
Justine PETERSEN, a Missouri nonprofit corporation, aims to connect institutional resources with low-income families aided in the creation of the microloan fund. According to a press release from the CCEDC, “Justine PETERSEN worked locally with Woodforest National Bank to leverage the dollars provided by the city.”
A total of $2 million is available in the microloan fund. Businesses in Urbana that qualify can access business-related loans of up to $50,000.
Justine PETERSEN established itself in the CCEDC in 2022 to offer small business lending and credit-building support and to provide other financial services. Now, Justine PETERSEN has launched the COVID-19 Recovery: Urbana Small Business Microloan Fund, which the Small Business Administration recognized as the microloan program of the year.
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A press release from the CCEDC said that “Since 2022, Justine PETERSEN has assisted 113 Champaign County businesses access $2.175M in capital.”
