BOISE, Idaho — From state programs to federal loans and everything in between, businesses across the country have been grabbing on to whatever financial lifeline they can to stay afloat. Now there's a new option.
The Community Advantage Recovery Loan (CARL) program is a new Small Business Administration (SBA) program available to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The CARL loan can be used for multiple things, where the PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] was very specific, primarily to keep employees on your payroll - to pay for payroll,” said David Glaser, president of MoFi, a nonprofit community lender that serves Idaho.
According to Glaser, MoFi is one of 100 nationwide lenders where folks can apply for the CARL loan.
Here are the terms:
- The maximum loan amount is $250,000 dollars
- The maximum interest rate is 9%, and there is no origination fee
- Payments are waived for the first six months
But there is one hoop some businesses may need to jump through.
"There's no minimum personal credit score but there is the SBA credit system and you have to score 140 or above,” Glaser said. “We work to provide businesses in Idaho that are just outside what banks can help and so we work with every single bank and credit union in the state of Idaho to find solutions for people that they can’t provide a loan to.”
Over the weekend, more than 30 businesses applied for the CARL loan through MoFi.
“It's 10 days from application to funding because we know that people need the money and so we're happy to move quickly and provide solutions,” Glaser said. “The businesses that we help have weathered the storm so far, but in order to adjust their business model to accommodate the COVID world they need additional capital to make that happen."
The CARL loan is available until September 27, 2020.
It comes as the Paycheck Protection Program loan expired earlier this month.
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