This post is part of a series of posts designed to help you acquire a loan for your small business. The following posts cover methods for public financing of your small business

Minnesota Reservist and Veteran Business Loan Program

Phone: (651) 259-7523

The purpose of the Military Reservist Economic Injury Loan Program is to provide relief, via interest-free loans, for small businesses which suffer substantial economic injury as a result of an essential employee being called to active military service for 180 days or more. Eligible businesses must be small businesses as defined by Minn. Stat. 645.445, which specifies that it must be a for- profit business entity with either 20 or fewer full-time employees or less the $1 million in gross sales (unless a technical or profession service business, for which gross sales are capped at $2.5 million). An essential employee must be a military reservist and either an owner of the small business or an employee of the small business who has managerial or technical expertise critical to the day-to-day operations of the business. The small business must be sustaining or likely to sustain economic harm, meaning it cannot meet its obligations as they mature, or pay its ordinary and necessary operating expenses, or provide a product or service as it has ordinarily done.

The department accepts applications on an on-going basis, subject to the availability of funds. One-time loans of $5,000 to $20,000 are available. The loan term is 4 1/2 years, with no repayment for the first 1 1/2 years and equal monthly payments over the remaining 3 years. The loans are interest-free. A Fact Sheet and a Loan Application Form for the program are available on the DEED website at www.positivelyminnesota.com .

CREDITS: This is an excerpt from A Guide to Starting a Business in Minnesota, provided by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Small Business Assistance Office, Twenty-eighth Edition, January 2010, written by Charles A. Schaffer, Madeline Harris, and Mark Simmer. Copies are available without charge from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Small Business Assistance Office.