More than a quarter of a million dollars in no- and low-interest loans have been provided to 36 business in Southwest Colorado during the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect 128 jobs by Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado.
Two rounds of funding with loans ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 were made by Region 9 to seven businesses in Archuleta County, nine businesses in Montezuma, one business in Dolores and 19 businesses in La Plata County applicants.
In addition, the San Juan Development Association was able to fund eight businesses in Silverton through its internal microloan fund, which Region 9 provides administrative assistance.
“Any business that applies for federal COVID-19 assistance has to be able to show comparisons from their financials from last year at this time. So, if they’re really new, they don’t have that track record and they’re not eligible for those disaster loans. Those are the businesses we were trying to help, the ones that fell between the cracks,” said Region 9 Executive Director Laura Lewis Marchino.
Lewis Marchino said Region 9 also provided assistance to many self-employed contractors who move from job to job and can’t calculate a regular income and also failed to meet criteria for federal COVID-19 assistance programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program.
Region 9 also provide some loans to businesses it had worked with in the past that were eligible for some COVID-19 federal assistance.
The average loan size was $6,200. In total, Region 9 made $226,000 in loans.
Region 9 also waived April and May interest payments and deferred principal for all its loan clients.
Businesses benefiting from Region 9 loans included: Alpine Aerial Acrobatics, Durango Space, Will Built, IV Fluid, Blackwood Tattoo, Aldrich Art, Cliffside, Dancing Raven, Elk Point Lodge, Enliven, Euphoria Salon, Incognito Salon, Ohana PT, Old Gold, Peaks & Tides, Performance Auto Repair, Remedy, Ski Barn, Enterprise Bar 7 Grill, Pagosa Mountain Sports, Hotel SOCO, In Balance PT, Pagosa Management, Cross Fit Pagosa, Crawford, Cabe’s Automotive, KB Insurance, Mancos Brewing, Moose & More, Top Line Floors, Rudosky Golf, Lambert Livestock, RJN and Luna Mesa.
Region 9 was able to make available funds go further with financial contributions from Montezuma County, the town of Pagosa Springs, the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation, Coldwell Banker, Dolores County Development corporation and private contributions to the Enterprise Zone Business Support Fund.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
