The Kitsap County Community Development Corporation (KCCDC) received a $50,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Business Enterprise Grant to facilitate development of small and emerging private business enterprises located in rural areas.

The $50,000 is slated for KCCDC’s revolving loan fund to provide loans to businesses in Suquamish or Port Orchard, targeted because they meet USDA’s criteria for low income and rural areas. The loans may be for gap financing, adding capital to a business project if the owner is short on personal equity, collateral for conventional financing, or micro loans between $500 and $5,000. A bank must finance at least 50 percent of the project.

KCCDC received the highest score of the ten grant applications by the USDA bolstered by numerous letters of support from elected officials and rural business owners, including Congressman Norm Dicks, Senator Phil Rockefeller, local government officials, WSU Extension’s Master Gardener program, and small farms or other businesses that would benefit from alternate funding.

Small business owners receiving loans must create or retain jobs for low-income persons, helping stimulate economic development in Kitsap County by increasing the tax base and creating local jobs to reduce the number of workers commuting.

KCCDC is a third-party lender under the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council with funding from Kitsap County and City of Bremerton Community Development Block Grant Program funds. KCCDC also offers technical assistance in counseling and SBA loan packaging.