Palmieri announces economic-stimulus loan program for Utica businesses

UTICA, N.Y. — Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri has announced an economic-stimulus loan program to assist local businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program will consist of a $500,000 funding pool.

Guidelines

Under the criteria and guidelines for the loan program, a business must be located in the city of Utica.

It must also have 25 or fewer employees, and funding is “tied to the retention of low to moderate-income employees,” the city said in a release.

The maximum loan amount for an individual business is $10,000. All loans will have zero interest.

A loan can convert to a grant if a business meets “specific criteria,” including business owners keeping their staff on payroll (funds are not meant to replace lost sales or profits). The business owner must also provide a “good faith” certification of funding usage and must provide payroll information as verification.

The city won’t require any personal guarantees but will require collateral.

Utica will provide the loan proceeds within one to two weeks “depending on completeness” of application and other loan materials.

All federal job-retention guidelines must be followed throughout the process, the City of Utica also noted.

A loan application can be found at www.cityofutica.com. Any questions regarding the city’s program can be directed to Jack Spaeth, economic-development specialist, at (315) 792-0181 or via e-mail: jspaeth@cityofutica.com.

Additional details

Utica is also offering forbearance for existing loans. Currently, 16 businesses have loans with the city and are eligible to receive a loan forbearance with no principal payments or interest due for three months.

In addition to the stimulus program and loan forbearance, the City of Utica will be receiving over $1.5 million in additional community development block grant (CDBG) funds as a result of the passage of the federal CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion COVID-19 economic-relief legislation.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is currently announcing the rules for expending the funding. Utica will be making future announcements regarding how it will allocate these funds.