Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA)/Local Lender Financing Program

The purpose of the SMMPA/Local Lender Financing Program is to provide a funding source to local lenders who in turn will offer a financial incentive for industrial development by businesses in SMMPA's member communities, which Lake City is one, thereby increasing demand for electricity (which will provide a use for SMMPA's excess capacity and decreasing the per-unit cost of electricity, in furtherance of SMMPA's goal to deliver economical power and energy to its members.

Borrower Qualifications:

* Eligible businesses must be a for-profit corporation, partnership or proprietorship.
* Business loan proceeds must be utilized within the participating SMMPA member's electric service area. All electric service must be obtained from SMMPA member's electric utility.
* Qualified businesses must document the creation or retention of jobs related to the development or expansion.
* A business in not eligible for the financing plan if it is a passive investment company, an entity where the main interest of the participants is to invest in real estate or is a cogenerator of electricity.

Loan Proceeds may be used to finance the following:

* land and building acquisition
* building construction or renovation
* equipment purchase
* working capital including inventory purchases

Loan Proceeds may not be used to finance the following:

* debt consolidation
* refinancing
* establish cogeneration

Business applicants are required to file certain documents with SMMPA. A business plan related to the use of the proceeds; quarterly statements during the first 24 months of operation; and an annual statement during the life of the loan. These documents will be used in SMMPA's Economic Development data base.