The East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) is a regional planning agency serving Benton, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, and Washington Counties. The ECICOG Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) was established for new and existing business within this six-county region to assist in their development and expansion. Due to the impacts of COVID on local businesses there has been funds made available as COVID Recovery Revolving Loans.

Eligibility to apply for the COVID Recovery Revolving Loan requires the applicant to have directly incurred impacts of COVID-19. Impacts can be negative, such as for continued recovery purposes, or positive, such as for expansion related to increased demand. Eligibility to apply is also available for those who are creating jobs in an area that has been negatively affected (job losses) by COVID-19.

The RLF can be used to finance purchases such as furniture fixtures and equipment, working capital purposes, or the purchase of real estate, not including construction. Loan amounts range from $25,000 to $500,000, with a zero percent interest rate for the first two years; then two percent for the remainder of the term with terms depending on the purchase. Two percent of the total purchase price is due at closing.

Once an application is formally submitted it will be reviewed the following month by the Revolving Loan Fund Committee. The applicant is required to present the application to the committee. The RLF committee either denies the application or recommends funding to the ECICOG Board of Directors. The Board will officially approve or deny the application. This happens a week after the RLF Committee makes its recommendation. Closing usually happens within 60 days. Most application time frames from submittal of the application to closing time frames are 30-45 days.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Robyn Jacobson the ECICOG RLF Contracts Administrator at 319-289-0069 or by email at [email protected].