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Apalachee RPC Expands Revolving Loan Fund Program
Begun in 1984, the Apalachee RPC has been administering a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) for small businesses throughout the region. The funding originated from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA), has been used to help create or retain jobs for businesses that don’t qualify for traditional lending.
 
Over the last two years, the Apalachee RPC expanded its RLF Program, with the addition of two new funds totaling just over $1.5 million. Additional federal funding became available via the Hurricane Michael Disaster Supplemental Act and the CARES Act and the Apalachee RPC Economic Development team took action. The EDA awarded the Council an $800,000 grant which was matched with a $200,000 investment by the Tallahassee-Leon Office of Economic Vitality. Together these funds were used to establish the Regional Economies Vested in Vital Enterprises (REVIVE!) program. REVIVE! has been used to grow small businesses and create more jobs within Leon County and the City of Tallahassee. The EDA also provided the Apalachee RPC a separate award of $580,000 to support the CARES Act RLF. This RLF provides businesses in Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, and Wakulla counties with gap financing to help them survive and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
To date, all CARES Act funding has been deployed. Example loan recipients include the Telogia Trading Post, a locally owned convenience store in Liberty County and the Norris Smokehouse, a meat-processing and retail sausage producer in Calhoun County. Staff continues to work promoting the REVIVE! RLF and CARES Act RLF programs to minority- and women-owned small business owners within the Apalachee Region and guiding loan applicants through the application process. For more information visit: https://www.arpc.org/rlf.
South Florida RPC Help Small Businesses Stay Afloat
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) partnered with the South Florida RPC to capitalize a new $5.38 million CARES Act Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) for businesses adversely impacted by COVID-19. These funds have been utilized to help alleviate sudden and severe economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus in Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.  At its January 18, 2022 meeting, the RLF Board reached the milestone of completely lending the EDA appropriated funds to Covid-impacted businesses in South Florida six months ahead of schedule. In September 2022, the SFRPC was recognized by EDA as a “Success Story” due to the Council’s great work with the CARES ACT RLF in Helping Small Businesses Stay Afloat in South Florida.
 
Since its inception, the CARES RLF has provided $6.7 million to more than 30 minority-owned businesses including tax preparers, marketing firms, supermarkets, and laundry cleaning facilities. These funds have enabled these businesses to recover, expand, and keep Floridians working. The South Florida RPC continues daily outreach efforts to additional businesses in the region, recently completing a series of video testimonials from some of the borrowers who offer their insights into the capital assistance program.
 
The South Florida RPC RLF is an award-winning program. In August 2021, the Council was a proud recipient of the Aliceann Wohlbruck NADO Impact Awards from the National Association of Development Organizations. This award honors members for their creative approaches to advancing regional economic development and an improved quality of life. For more information a please visit our website at sfregionalcouncil.org.
Emerald Coast RC Secures EDA Grant
The Emerald Coast RC recently assisted the City of Milton to secure a $5.9 million-dollar Economic Development Administration American Rescue Plan grant to construct the North Santa Rosa Water Reclamation Facility, a much-needed, new wastewater treatment plant. The grant will be matched by additional state and local funds and is expected to create 230 jobs and generate $33.1 million in private investment. 
The facility will be located at the Santa Rosa Industrial Park and will add capacity for the regional, national, and international businesses moving to the industrial park and the region. The City hopes to have the new facility at full capacity by the end of 2023 and will be able to process 8 million gallons of wastewater per day, an improvement of 5.5 million gallons over the existing outdated facility. The Council will continue its assistance by managing the grant on behalf of the City of Milton.