BISMARCK – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring is reminding agribusinesses that there are programs to assist if they have experienced a negative economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We know companies are struggling during these challenging times,” Goehring said. “There are recently-approved programs available that provide low interest loans to help agribusinesses bridge the gap as they emerge from this crisis.”
The Bank of North Dakota (BND) is providing the COVID-19 PACE Recovery (CPR) Program, which will provide a loan of up to $5 million for businesses of less than 500 employees and a loan of up to $10 million for businesses with more than 500 employees. Loan payments may be deferred for up to six months, at which time the loan will term out with up to a 10-year amortization. The interest rate on the loan will be bought down by BND to 1% for a period of time, with a maximum buydown of $500,000.
Businesses may access the program through their local lender. Requirements include showing a negative economic impact due to COVID-19, and the capacity or history of showing the business can service debt before March 13, 2020. More information about the CPR Program may be found at https://bnd.nd.gov/business/covid-19-pace-recovery-program/.
Agriculture producers are not eligible for the CPR Program but have other options such as the BND Ag Disaster Relief Program and the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.