The Geauga County Revolving Loan Fund (GRLF) is a program created to provide Gap Financing to qualified businesses, and is administered by the Geauga County Department of Community & Economic Development. The GRLF provides direct loans at below prime interest rates on a portion of a project to enable companies to acquire conventional financing or other financing on the remainder of the project. The GRLF program will consider all projects of merit, which create long-term, permanent jobs and can be used for new businesses and expansions. The loan term cannot exceed terms of the primary lending source. The program can be used in combination with the SBA 504 program and the State “166” program to fill the gap created by insufficient owner equity and private financing.
A major purpose of the Geauga County Revolving Loan Program is to create jobs in the community. For each $25,000 loaned, one job must be created for a Geauga County resident within two years of project completion. Priority is given to companies that create more long-term, permanent jobs. Under special circumstances, companies moving into the county that retain jobs will also be considered for a Revolving Loan.
A majority (51%) of the jobs created or retained must be taken by or made available to low and moderate-income County households. The types of jobs suited to the target population include semi-skilled or unskilled, manufacturing, industrial or commercial requiring minimal education and prior work experience. The GRLF is not meant to be the primary lending source. All GRLF projects must leverage a minimum ratio of one private sector dollar to one GRLF dollar. The GRLF portion shall not exceed 50% of the total project cost. A minimum of 10% owner equity is required for each expansion project and up to 25% for a business start-up.
The Geauga County Revolving Loan Fund began in 1983. To date, more than 80 loans have been made, the smallest being $3,000 and the largest $500,000.
The GRLF has loaned to a variety of businesses.