Bear Paw Development creates new $750,000 revolving loan fund

Bear Paw Development Corporation was recently awarded $600,000 in federal funds by the U.S. Economic Development Administration to capitalize a new revolving loan fund that will be available for businesses and prospective entrepreneurs in the organization’s five-county region of northern Montana. The funds were matched by $150,000 in local funds to create a $750,000 revolving loan fund to assist existing business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs with their start-up or expansion needs.

“This investment by the EDA, through a competitive process, validates the importance and necessity of having loan funds available in our region to the private sector to meet their capital needs and help create jobs,” said Paul Tuss, Executive Director of Bear Paw Development. “These funds expand our ability to invest in solid business opportunities that may need financing beyond what traditional bank lending can provide. While we often partner with banks to provide the necessary capital for business growth, we also can fund projects entirely with our loan funds.”

Tuss said this new revolving loan fund is expected to attract $1.5 million in private investment and will add to Bear Paw Development’s existing loan funds, which include approximately $8 million. Since the inception of the organization’s business lending program in the late 1980s, Bear Paw Development has approved more than 400 loans to businesses in northern Montana, helped the private sector create or retain over 1,600 jobs and, along with leveraged funds, coordinated $63 million for business start-ups and expansions.

“We are very pleased these funds will now be available in our region to help grow the economy, create jobs, add to our local tax base and provide much-needed capital to our entrepreneurial community,” Tuss noted. “We’re also pleased the EDA recognized the importance of investing in rural Montana. This is a partnership that will bear fruit for years to come.”

Bear Paw Development Corporation is a federally-recognized Economic Development District serving the economic and community development needs of Liberty, Hill, Blaine, Phillips, and Chouteau Counties as well as the Rocky Boy’s and Fort Belknap Indian Reservations. It is the longest-serving Economic Development District in the state of Montana.