Lenders throughout Minnesota have worked with DEED to implement the Minnesota Small Business Emergency Loan program to help small business owners who need immediate assistance to meet their families' basic needs during COVID-19 closures.

The program is live today, and was made possible by Governor Walz's Executive Order 20-15.

The program leverages lenders across Minnesota to issue the loans to their communities. DEED's lender network for this program targets diverse geographical regions and targeted groups across the Minnesota.

Small businesses can find out more and see a list of lenders they can apply for a loan through on the Small Business Emergency Loan page on the DEED site. It's important to understand that DEED is not making these loans: the loans are available through the lenders listed on the website. DEED encumbers the funding for these lenders.

The Minnesota Small Business Emergency Loan Program is intended to help businesses temporarily closed under Executive Order 20-04, later clarified by Executive Order 20-08, which stopped onsite customer dining at restaurants and bars and closed an extensive list of other small businesses whose owners may not have adequate cash flow to withstand temporary closure. Businesses who were not affected by those closures are not eligible for the program.

DEED's lender network will make Small Business Emergency Loans for amounts between $2,500 and $35,000 for qualifying small businesses. The loans will be 50% forgivable, and offered at a 0% interest rate. If other financing becomes available to small businesses that received a Minnesota Small Business Emergency Loan, such as federal funding, the emergency loan must be repaid. Depending on the size of the loans offered to businesses, DEED estimates this emergency loan program will provide needed resources to between 1,200 and 5,000 businesses.

Our goals for this program are focused on equity and speed.

• Equity: We aspire to ensure every lender in our network is able to loan out all of the money we encumber for them. If we achieve this goal, then the funding will be very well distributed geographically and will disproportionately help those most effected by the crisis, in particular targeted communities.
• Speed: Though the lenders themselves set policies and procedures as it relates to their loans, DEED will strive to get money to lenders within 24 hours of any approved application we receive from the lenders.

The Minnesota Small Business Emergency Loan Program is part of a slate of emergency financing options for small Minnesota businesses.

Generally a business should explore and exhaust options in this order:

1. Call your insurance company

2. Call your lender – lender will use/refer to any available product, including:

• The lender could use their own resources
• SBA financing – through new stimulus to be determined
• DEED loan guarantee – through enrolled lenders that will be listed on our website by the end of the week of March 30
• DEED SBEL – available through 23 lenders listed on our website to businesses affected by EO 20-04 and 20-08

3. Apply for SBA disaster loans

Minnesota small businesses should carefully review the Small Business Emergency Loan page on the DEED site and reach out directly to the lender of their choice. If a small business has a question not answered on the website, please email the question to ELP@state.mn.us.

Visit the COVID-19 Information for Employers and Businesses page on the DEED website for more resources related to business assistance, Unemployment Insurance and FAQs.