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• Crescent City Moves Forward on Microenterprise, Business Loan Programs

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Nine local businesses were able to retain or add new jobs to their operations due to two forgivable loan programs Crescent City spearheaded during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city offered its Microenterprise Assistance and Business Assistance loan programs to business owners through $750,000 in 2019-2020 Community Development Block Grant dollars. Out of roughly 70 applications Crescent City received, nine businesses were awarded a total of $510,000 in forgivable loans, City Manager Eric Wier told councilors on Monday.

“There were a total of 52 applications we received in round one. Thirty were deemed eligible under the criteria we had, and ultimately six businesses were funded,” Wier said. “We had a total of 18 eligible applications in round two, of which three were able to move forward and ultimately get funded.”

Crescent City councilors on Monday unanimously authorized staff to submit documents needed to close out the programs to the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Both programs were created through the Economic Resiliency Task Force, which was set up to help local businesses through the pandemic.

According to Monday’s staff report, the city used $250,000 in CDBG funds for the Microenterprise Assistance loans. Loans of up to $50,000 were made to businesses with five or fewer employees where the owner was low- to moderate-income.

The city used $500,000 in CDBG dollars for its Business Assistance Loan program. This program offered forgivable loans of up to $100,000 to businesses with 25 or fewer employees that were creating or keeping jobs for low- to moderate-income employees, according to the staff report.

More valuable than the funding, however, according to Wier, was the technical assistance businesses received through Claggett Wolfe and Associates and through the North Coast Small Business Development Center. The city also worked with the Arcata Economic Development Corporation and Cholwell, Benz and Hartwick, Wier said.

According to the city’s staff report, all the businesses that received loans have met the program requirements and have had their loans forgiven.

“It definitely was a team partnership approach where they had to put their work in to develop their financials, to look at those business needs, to come up with the pro-forma, work with Claggett Wolfe and Associates and Cholwell, Benz and Hartwick and really make it a successful program,” Wier said.

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