Loans
Supporting Business Growth and Expansion in the Region
We believe in the power of our region—and we’re investing in its economic growth to help it thrive.
We aim to finance loans that create new or higher-paying jobs, fill a true financing gap, support the redevelopment of vacant or underused properties, or help retain existing businesses.
We’re considered a gap lender, meaning we typically fund between 10% and 40% of the total financing needed for qualified applicants. Our loan program supplements or complements conventional or bank financing. We don’t compete with local banks, but our funds help the financing package succeed for the prospective business or the existing business to expand. In some cases, primarily with smaller projects, we can serve as the lead lender if accessing bank financing has been difficult.
Connect with Us
Greg Wagner, AICP
Director of Business & Economic Development
Phil Hintz
Loan Officer
Loan Options & Guidelines
Access to Capital Loans
Through our Access to Capital Loan program, we’ll match bank loan amounts up to $75,000. We offer a low-interest fixed rate, 5-year balloon, amortization to match the bank. Contact Greg Wagner for more information.
Business & Industry Loans
The Business and Industry Loan Fund is used for loans from $20,000 to $300,000. We receive funds from several different sources for this loan program, and they all have different qualifying criteria for projects. Historically, we offered these loans to the manufacturing industry, but we’ve expanded the eligibility to include other businesses. Download the Application. Contact Greg Wagner to request the application in a different form.
Child Care Loans
We offer loans of up to $3,500 for home-based providers. Center-based providers may be eligible for additional funds. Recipients must use the fund to open or retain child care slots in our region. Most loans are related to improvements for property to be licensed or expand licensed space. Contact Greg Wagner for more information.
Good Food Loan Fund
This loan fund provides lower-interest loans (up to $15,000) to support new and existing small-scale farmers in our region. We encourage underserved segments of the farming population who do not have the availability of traditional financing to apply. Download the Application.
- Borrowers should demonstrate a current and future commitment to farming.
- Loan funds can be used for inventory, supplies, working capital, and equipment/machinery.
- Loans cannot be used for conventional agriculture or real estate.
- This fund offers a 3.5% interest rate and no loan origination fee.
Contact Greg Wagner for more information.
PROMISE Act Loan Program
We’re administering loans from the PROMISE Act Loan Program on behalf of the State of Minnesota. The PROMISE Act was created by the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 and included funding for very low-interest loans that focused on construction-related projects and site improvements.
The program was created to provide further economic support to Minnesota’s small businesses. West Central Initiative is legislatively authorized as a partner organization to deliver this program to businesses in our service area.
The Minnesota Legislature ammended the PROMISE Act Legislation in 2025 and the guidelines below reflect those changes.
Applicant Eligibility & Priority
The applicant can be a business, a developer seeking funding to complete an eligible project, or a nonprofit organization. Local units of government are not eligible for the program. Other eligibility requirements and loan priorities:
- The business entity must have existed and filed taxes in the year prior to the current year (taxes filed in 2024 if applying in 2025).
- The business cannot have had gross annual revenue of more than $1,500,000 in the previous tax year (2024 if applying in 2025).
- Priority is given to businesses that involve developers/business owners who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, veterans, or women.
Loan Details
- Eligible uses (not an all-inclusive list):
- New construction
- Redevelopment
- Rehabilitation/remodeling
- Private infrastructure improvements
- Landscaping, streetscaping, and related site amenities
- Predesign
- Design
- Engineering
- Land acquisition costs
- Equipment as determined eligible by West Central Initiative
- These funds can’t be used for refinancing existing debt or obligations related to these eligible uses
- Loans from West Central Initaitive will not exceed $300,000 and will still need to comply with our typical loan processes and policies
- The loans term is for up to 20 years
- The interest rate is fixed at 3.0% for the life of the loan
Timeline
This program is open now until all available funds have been disbursed or until the program sunsets on June 30, 2027. This is a non-competitive program, and funding will be provided to projects that meet both the specific legislatively mandated program criteria and West Central Initiative loan review/underwriting on a first come, first served basis.
Location Eligibility & Priority
Entities in Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Pope, Stevens, Traverse, and Wilkin, as well as the portion of the White Earth Nation that shares geography with Becker County are eligible for the program.
Our staff can assist you in making the correlation as to if your project is located in a community that has been adversely affected by one or more of the following:
- Structural racial discrimination
- Civil unrest
- Lack of access to capital
- Loss of population and/or aging population
Apply
Contact Greg Wagner or Phil Hintz to discuss the specifics of your projects and to see if your project will meet the PROMISE Act Loan Program criteria. We will identify the appropriate application process for you to follow and ask you to fill out an additional form related to the PROMISE Act Loan criteria. If your project is determined to not meet the PROMISE criteria, we do offer several other loan programs that can be considered for your project.
Small Enterprise Loans
The Small Enterprise Loan Fund provides loans from $1,000 to $50,000 and includes smaller loans to businesses in the manufacturing or service sectors. A small number of loans are made to retail businesses that don’t compete with others in their immediate trade area. Download the Application. Contact Greg Wagner to request the application in a different form.
Loan Guidelines for All Loan Programs
- We typically require a business plan.
- Applicants must demonstrate that a financing gap exists and that the bank is unable to fund the entire project.
- We always require a personal guarantee.
- The project must demonstrate sound management ability and the likelihood of success must be very high.
- We typically require an assignment of life insurance from the principal borrower.
- Applicant must have a satisfactory credit history.
- Applicants must provide cash flow projections and collateral values that demonstrate the repayment ability of the business.
Projects Not Eligible for Our Loan Programs
Although we do our best to accommodate applicants, we typically can’t finance certain types of loans, including loans for:
- Projects with no equity investments.
- Applicants with poor credit histories.
- Businesses that are unduly speculative or lacking a business plan.
- Businesses brought into or relocated within our region without creation of new jobs.
- Businesses that are unduly competitive with businesses in the same trade area.
- Governmental entities.
- Consumer loans.
- Real estate development (speculative development).
- Refinance existing debt.
Inquire About a Loan
Frequently Asked Questions
Recent Economic News
Connect with Us
Greg Wagner, AICP
Director of Business & Economic Development
Phil Hintz
Loan Officer