Commerce Department awards $35.5M for small-business loans in Pennsylvania

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The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently awarded $35.5 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants for Revolving Loan Funds (RLFs).

The funding will help small businesses and entrepreneurs adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These investments come at a crucial time to help Pennsylvania’s and our nation’s economy come roaring back and provide hard-working Americans with new opportunities,” Dana Gartzke, performing the delegated duties of the assistant secretary of commerce for the EDA, said. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, and EDA is pleased to invest these CARES Act funds so that Pennsylvania businesses have access to capital to respond to and recover from the coronavirus pandemic.”

Projects in Pennsylvania received between $7.6 million and $530,000.

The largest projects are:

The Regional Development Funding Corp. in Pittsburgh received $7.6 million to capitalize and administer RLFs to small businesses in Allegheny County.

The Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development received $7.45 million to provide gap financing to small businesses in the city of Philadelphia.

The SEDA-Council of Governments in Lewisburg received $6.3 million to capitalize and administer RLFs for businesses in 11 counties.

The Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission in Altoona received $4.3 million to capitalize and administer RLFs to businesses in six counties.