The fund is aimed at helping small businesses in Minnesota.
To qualify, small businesses must employ 20 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees or have less than $3 million in revenue in 2019.
The business must have suffered a direct economic disruption as a result of COVID-19 or the recent civil unrest in a way that has materially impacted operations, with an emphasis given to businesses located in low/moderate income areas and under-served communities served by the participating CDFIs.
The business has been in operation since at least September 2019, unless the business is a for-profit business and meets one of the following additional criteria:
- The business owner can demonstrate three or more years of operating experience in the industry through previous ownership or management; or
- The business has previously borrowed from the community lender and has had no repayment issues