The Agency announces emergency loan fund for Southern Tier businesses amid coronavirus crisis

DICKINSON, N.Y. — The Agency on Tuesday released details of an emergency loan fund for greater Binghamton–area businesses impacted by the ongoing coronavirus-related shutdown of non-essential businesses.

The organization has modified existing loan funds “to be responsive to the immediate needs for cash flow that many businesses are experiencing.”

The Agency is the rebranded name of the Broome County Industrial Development Agency and the Local Development Corporation.

The Broome County Emergency Loan Fund will provide businesses benefits that include no principal and interest payments for 12-months; no equity requirement; associated application and closing fees waived; expedited closing process; and an expedited loan review by the advisory loan committee.

Applicants will be required to provide documentation that includes their most recent tax return. If the return for 2019 isn’t complete, then year-end financials will be required, per the Agency.

The required documentation also includes a list of current debt. An authorized credit check will also be required, the Agency said.

The Agency will review loans on a “first-come, first-served basis” with about $1 million in funding available for lending.

In addition, funds that draw from one of the Agency’s accounts can also be used to assist businesses in Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins counties. This is because the origination of the funds comes from a federal agency and “is a requirement of the program.”

The interest rate on loans will be at 75 percent of the prime interest rate at the time the deferral period ends.

Agency officials indicate that the Broome County Emergency Loan Fund will “complement” the many emergency loan funds in the area that seek to provide assistance.

“We recognize that what most businesses need to do at this time is to protect cash flow,” Stacey Duncan, executive director of the Agency and president & CEO of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, said. “We’re hopeful that these funds can assist businesses with their immediate needs while we gain a better understanding of what our long-term recovery will look like.”

Businesses interested in applying should contact Tom Gray at (607) 584-9000 or tmg@theagency-ny.com. Additional contacts include Natalie Abbadessa at (607) 584-9000 or nca@theagecy-ny.com.