Interest free ARC Loans for existing small businesses

There is a special loan for existing small businesses which have been historically profitable, and have been impacted by this latest Economic Crisis. It is called an ARC Loan. ARC loans are interest free for up to 5 years. They are administered through the SBA - Small Business Association for up to $35,000.

What is an ARC Loan?

1. The America’s Recovery Capital, or ARC, loan program is designed to give
   

• viable small businesses suffering immediate financial hardship some temporary financial relief so they can keep their doors open and get their cash flow back on track.

1. The ARC loan program is a new, temporary program authorized by the Recovery Act.
2. An ARC loan is a
   

• deferred-payment loan of up to $35,000,
  
• to be used for principal and interest payments on existing, qualifying debt/loans.

1. ARC loans are 100% guaranteed by SBA and have no SBA or lender fees associated with them (unless the lender must secure collateral as part of the loan).
2. There are no interest charges to the borrower. The SBA will pay the monthly interest at the rate of Prime plus 2% to the lender on behalf of the borrower. The current rate is published in the Federal Register.
3. There is a disbursement period of up to six months followed by 12 months with no repayment of the ARC loan principal. After the 12-month deferral period, the borrower pays back only the ARC loan principal over a period of five years.

Business Grants

Here in Lake Oswego, among the Mansions and modest apartments, we are but a microcosm of Oregon being impacted my the Global Economic Crisis. Stimulus package? If you want your part of the stimulus package, you have to work your butt of to get it. No pain, no gain. Just like tax deductions. If you want them, you have to keep records and work hard to get them.

Here is another site I found for finding Business Loans and Grants. It is simple and targeted. What I like about it, is that it isn't flashy, nor so federal that you can't find anything.
Here is the link to the Business.gov search page for Loans and Grants:
http://search.business.gov/startLoans.html
Here you can search for Grants in a targeted area. I selected Technology as a broader term for Internet Technology. It came up with one granting source
businessownersideacafe.com/small_business_grants
This site is targeted for small business owners and the grants are $1000 each. This way they can give more grants to more people.

Again, will all the grants, you do have to work for them. You have to write a grant proposal.
Hey, where is your Entrepreneurial spirit?

Grants.gov - seriously part of the US government

Okay, so my last post was commercial. There is value in commercial, if they do the footwork for you. If you want to go direct to the US Government for grants, go to Grants.gov
They are a part of the US Dept of Health and Human Services in Washington DC

If you have experience finding and writing grants, you may be able to find your way around this site, and write grant proposals. Many of the grants on this site are for non-profit organizations, government entities, schools, etc.

If you are looking for

• small business grants, this site you to the Small Business Association
• student loans - goes to FAFSA - studentaid.ed.gov

Realize that the government is not the most user friendly environment. Some of the commercial sites will be easier to find your way around in.

Stimlus Package - Federal College Grants for Women

Back to current events. Here in Lake Oswego, many households have taken a financial hit, losing half their financial portfolios. There is a trickle down effect as they cut back on spending. This effects restaurants, house cleaners, and dry cleaners, etc.

One of my friends falls into one of these above categories, and is also a single mom putting her kid through college. She is pondering changing careers. I said I've been seeing blurbs on the Internet about college grants for older women who want to re-train - to change careers, by going back to college.

She thinks this sounds great, and asked me to send her any information that I come across on this topic. I decided to re-focus this blog on this topic, as it is a current concern here in Oregon. We are now at a 14% unemployment rate, second only to Michigan which is at 16%. Both the auto industry and construction are hit hard. Since Oregon's main export is Forestry and Nursery products, the fall in the Contruction industry impacts Oregon pretty hard.

Search on this:
college scholarships for returning students
I found this link on the federal website:
US Government Grants >> Government Grants for Women
"The government has special programs set aside for women that are designed to assist in starting up a small business, providing grants and scholarships for school (including loans for school and Financial aid), and even grants for graduate school including law school and medical school ...
One benefit of the current economic crisis is that there is a lot of bailout money available. Despite media coverage to the contrary, a huge chunk of this money has been reserved for government grants to help women get back on their feet. President Obama has made it a goal of his administration to provide grants to help women in business development through grants and loans, particularly for women entrepreneurs, education assistance through scholarships, and assorted grants for just about everything else.

Am I Eligible to Receive Government Grants?

As long as you live in the United States and are a citizen or resident you are eligible to receive a free government grant. The government is legally required to give away a portion of the tax money it collects each year, in the form of government grants. We are here to educate the public about Government Grants because only about 15% of available grants for women are even applied for!

Get grants from $50,000 - $1,500,000 or more, free, that you never have to pay back whether you’re employed or unemployed."

The above words are right off the usgov-grants.org website. Unlike so many other come on ads flashing on the Internet, this one is serious. This site recommends 3 different other websites to assist seekers in finding the grants best suited foy you, and grant writing software.

• Grants for Citizens - This one has Grant writing software and is the most comprehensive, thus also could be the most overwhelming. They have templates so you just have to fill out personal information, and it will format the rest.
  
• Grants 360 - sortable listings of all the grants, again the list could be overwhelming.
  
• Free Government Money - this one specializes in grants for Women and Minorities and low income people including grants for getting out of debt and paying your medical bills
  

This federal site does say you may be charged $1 to $2 for CDs.

Yes, you do have to work at it to get a grant. Remember that grants from the US government require proper documentation, especially in these days of government transparency. Your local SBA - Small Business Association office may be able to help you find and get started on these grant applications.

DINKS - SINKS - NOF-NOFs : Relocating to Portland from NIH

We moved here because my husband got a job on "Pill Hill" which is Marquam Hill in Portland where OHSU overlooks the Willamette River. OHSU is Oregon Health Sciences University, the only medical school in Oregon. Healthcare professionals are very dedicated to their work. We decided this move to Portland was a good time to start a family.

My husband was an NIH Fellow. He got a position in Portland. NIH is the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. I was a Technical Director at Ross Perot's company, EDS, while Roger Smith ran General Motors. I remember Roger and Ross would have fights in the board room. It got to the point that Roger fined Ross $10,000 per insult or disruption (or something like that) . Ross being the colorful guy he was would then pick his battles more carefully. When he got fined, Ross would say "It was worth it!"

Back to us. We DINKS hardly saw each other. Late nights at NIH meant that I knew every good restaurant within a reasonable distance to NIH that was open past midnight. Our schedules were so busy, we had to make time to see each other. Thursday night was out data night, even though we lived together, it was nice to spend some face to face time together.

Moving to Portland was a nice change. I'm a San Franciscan, and living in the Washington DC area was a culture shock for me. When it came time for my husband to leave NIH, I said:
"Let's go back to the West Coast, anywhere on the West Coast, except Alaska!"
I was not at all enamored with snow.

Becoming a mom was a welcome relief from being on the career track though it reminded me of being a manager. All those people to take care of. Now I just had two. Getting by on one income, and having a beautiful 3 story home in the West Hills, was both a luxury and an economic stressor. No matter what echelon of existence, I think couples moving from being DINKS (double income no kids) to SINKS (single income numerous kids) AND having relocated to NOF-NOFs (no family no friends) is really a huge stress on a couple.

Lake Oswego, Oregon

I love Lake Oswego. It's a quaint town just south of Portland. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to get to downtown Portland from here, but I'm happy just hanging out here around the lake. Lake Oswego is bounded by hills on both the north and south sides and by the Willamette River on the east side. On the west, it is bounded by I-5, the main interstate freeway that shuttles travelers through from California to Washington on their way up to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Lake Oswego is the only lake in the Portland Metropolitan area. It was historically a weekend get away spot for the wealthy Portlanders who built homes or cottages on or near the lake. This is why there are so many cottages here. Some of them have been very well kept. Others are treated like vacation rentals - now just regular home rentals, and some are in a sad state of disrepair.

I've been living here since my kids started kindergarten. I lived in a number of apartments around the lake before buying my own home. In this blog, I hope to take you on a tour of this quaint little town, that we locals so dearly love.