Illinois Administrative Code
Title 14 - COMMERCE
Part 570 - ILLINOIS SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Section 570.10 - Purpose

1) Through the Illinois Small Business Development Program (Program), the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (Department) will provide term loans on a generally fixed-rate, low-interest basis (see Section 570.70(a)(1) ) to small businesses in Illinois in cooperation with participating lenders or other investors. The ultimate purpose of the Program is to provide economic development assistance to Illinois businesses who will provide employment opportunities for Illinois citizens, either through job creation/retention or those that modernize or improve the competitiveness of the firm.

2) Any small business operating or to be located in Illinois may make an application for financial assistance under this program. A small business includes, but is not limited to, any for-profit business organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, joint venture, association, or cooperative. For the purposes of this program, a small business is one that has, including its affiliates, fewer than 500 full-time employees, or is determined by the Department not to be dominant in its field.

3) Minority, Veteran, Women and Disability Business Loans

4) Technical Assistance Grants - Provides the Department with the ability to make a grant to a not-for-profit organization, which also provides a portion of the financing with respect to the technical assistance project. The purpose of the grant is to cause the technical assistance project to be undertaken to have the potential to improve the capital marketplace structure or to reduce information barriers that are impediments to the flow of capital.

5) Development Corporation Grant Program - The purpose of the Development Corporation Grant Program is to provide grants to or through financial intermediaries whose purpose includes financing, promoting or encouraging economic development in their geographic areas.

1) Participation Loan Program - Provides the Department with the ability to purchase an interest in a standard financial intermediary loan. This purchase provides a collateral cushion similar to companion loans. The purpose of these agreements is to help reduce the time needed to analyze applications due to the reliance upon the financial intermediaries' due diligence by tapping into the existing infrastructure of private sector financing expertise. The ultimate purpose of the program is to provide economic development assistance to Illinois businesses that will provide employment opportunities for Illinois citizens. For purposes of this Part, financial intermediary shall have the same definition as those established under Section 9-2 of the Act.

2) Loan Loss Reserve Program - The financial intermediaries that participate in the program make all of the credit decisions about whether to fund or reject a loan to a potential borrower. The financial intermediary also decides whether to make conventional loans to the borrower or whether to require the borrower to participate in the Loan Loss Reserve Program as a condition of the loan. The purpose of the program is to help borrowers that are borrowing up to $100,000 get access to capital, especially in urban areas; however, even though the program provides access to capital, it will not necessarily be low-cost capital.

3) Development Corporation Participation Loan Program - The purpose of the Development Corporation Participation Loan Program is to provide loans, which may be done through the purchase of participations, to or through financial intermediaries whose purposes include financing, promoting or encouraging economic development in their geographic areas.

4) Minority, Veteran, Women, and Disability Participation Loans - Businesses meeting the definitions of Section 570.10(a)(3) may be funded in accordance with Section 9-4.3 of the Act through Participation Loans and Development Corporation Participation Loans as described in subsections (b)(1) and (3).

5) Rural Micro-business Loan Program