Restart Thomas County Loan Fund Offers High-Impact, Low-Cost Way to Boost Business
A new Restart Thomas County Loan Fund offers donors a high-value, low-cost chance to help local businesses restart after the Covid-19 shutdown. Contributors get a 75-percent state tax credit. Sixty percent goes to the local fund, 40 percent to boost entrepreneurship and businesses across Kansas.
That means a $100 donation costs $25 and provides $60 in loans; a $10,000 donation costs $2,500 and provides $6,000 in loans.
“If they’re looking for a way to help businesses in Thomas County, they’re not going to find anything that’s going to have more impact,” says Vernon Hurd, executive director of the Thomas County Economic Development Alliance. “Businesses are hurting.”
The fund provides four-year low-interest loans of up to $20,000 with no payments for the first four months.
The initiative, part of Restart Kansas launched and supported by NetWork Kansas in collaboration with local leaders, aims to establish both emergency assistance and a long-term boost to the state’s economic and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“The Restart Kansas County Loan Fund provides an opportunity to continue to meet the short term needs of the COVID-19 crisis while building systems for meeting the long-term needs of counties across Kansas,” Network Kansas said in a statement. “The long-term goal for Restart Kansas is to offer additional loan programs as needs arise.
“It is time to meet the current crisis head-on while building a long-term ecosystem that can meet the gaps inherent in our financial system today.”
Applications are limited statewide, so earlier donations give Thomas County a greater chance to benefit from the program. For more information, contact Vernon Hurd at (785) 460-4511 or email director@thomascounty.com.
