Mar 22, 2023 - Harrisburg, AR
ARI Contact:
Jamie R. Wright, Executive Director
jamie@ruralimpact.org
The nonprofit Alliance for Rural Impact (ARI) announced the Rural Impact Fund, a revolving loan fund with a focus on lending to diverse small businesses, micro-enterprises, and entrepreneurs in rural communities.
The new loan fund targets projects which result in the creation or retention of quality high-paying jobs and improvement of quality of life in the Mississippi Delta region. ARI will provide recipients with expertise in helping businesses achieve innovative technical assistance.
“Years of intentional and thoughtful planning have brought us to this announcement. Often, a significant impact can be achieved by minimal investment and thorough technical assistance,” said Jamie R. Wright, Co-Founder and Executive Director of ARI. “The Rural Impact Fund functions as a tool to assist rural businesses who are in growth mode or need to bring in new technologies to help compete in a global market.”
ARI has a history of providing innovative technical assistance to help businesses determine solutions for improving productivity, filling workforce gaps, and optimizing production. The new fund will provide up to $50,000 in loans per business for several key financing types, including providing gap financing, microloans, and other small business loans.
“Our focus from the beginning has been on bringing needed resources to rural communities. Rural businesses can compete in the worldwide economy by utilizing their greatest asset – their workforce – in the best possible way,” said ARI Co-founder and Director of Operations Jennifer Watkins. “The Rural Impact Fund allows ARI to generate impacts in the communities we serve by providing capital with customized technical assistance to guide investment for real results.”
This new fund targets businesses and entrepreneurs who have limited financing capacity and may not meet the requirements for traditional bank financing. ARI’s ability to combine a loan fund with a proven technical assistance track record and rural community expertise is central to successfully fulfilling the mission of the organization.
The Rural Impact Fund is now accepting applications through its website. Applicants can determine their eligibility and learn more about applying at https://ruralimpact.org/how-we-work/rural-impact-fund/ or contacting contact@ruralimpact.org for more information or questions about the application procedures.
About The Alliance for Rural Impact (ARI)
The Alliance for Rural Impact (ARI) is a nonprofit organization serving rural communities across the Delta and Mid-South. ARI is a collective partnership of technical assistance experts focused on community equity for rural regions. ARI offers innovative technical assistance partnered with investment to help facilitate successful transformation in rural communities ensuring better opportunities to compete and prosper in a global market.
Facts about the Rural Impact Fund
· Maximum loan amount: $50,000
· Minimum loan amount: $10,000
· Eligible fund types: ARI focuses efforts on several key loan types, including providing gap financing, microloans, and other small business loans to finance the purchase of key assets, energy efficiency technology, innovative production development, automation technology, strategic inventory and more. ARI does not lend to start-up businesses at this time.
· Fund limits: Borrowers may receive up to 75% of the eligible project costs from the Rural Impact Fund. Borrowers will be required to provide 25% of the eligible project costs from non-federal sources, such as cash, a separate non-federal lender, grants or other approved sources of funding.
· Interest rates: Each loan's interest rate will be individually determined, but will generally be between 2% and 6% above the then currently published Wall Street Journal prime interest rate.
· Technical Assistance: ARI provides technical assistance to help businesses determine solutions for improving productivity, filling workforce gaps, and optimizing production.
· Loan Fees: The Fund’s standard fees include Financing Application Fee, Origination Fee, an Annual Administrative Fee and others. Please visit https://ruralimpact.org/how-we-work/rural-impact-fund/ to learn more.
