The Thurston County Economic Development Council (EDC) helps companies such as yours to obtain financing by connecting them with local, state, and regional resources.
No matter the size of your company, our EDC staff works with each individual request and case to steer the company to the most appropriate resource that will positively affect your financial operations.
In Thurston County, we have many finance programs available to stimulate the development of business expansion and new business location, and to help businesses save money.
You will find guidance from the EDC and Business Resource Center (BRC) that provide direction and assistance in many of the following resources:
- Tax-Exempt Industrial Revenue Bonds (IDRBs) provides tax-exempt debt obligations issued by public corporations to support manufacturing, processing, and utility type economic development projects. The Port of Olympia Economic Development Corporation issues these bonds in Thurston County.
- Tax-Exempt “Exempt Facilities” Bonds support solid waste disposal projects.
- Taxable Non-Recourse Economic Development Bonds finance many kinds of businesses.
- U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) programs offer the SBA 7(a) Loan Guarantee Program, the SBA 504 Program, and SBA Low-Doc Program financial assistance.
- Olympic Microloan Fund offers loans for small businesses existing in Thurston County or re-locating in Thurston County.
- Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) provides loans and occasional grants to local governments to help finance construction of public facility projects necessitated by private sector development.
- Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Float Loan Program offers float loans to businesses from the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) through cities and counties eligible to receive Washington State Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program assistance. An eligible city or county may apply for a grant under this program in order to extend a short term loan to a private business entity under the following conditions:
- The business must demonstrate the public financing of the project is necessary and appropriate to create or retain jobs;
- The business must provide an unconditional, irrevocable Letter of Credit in US dollars in the full amount of the principal and interest due, as collateral for the loan;
- The business must agree to create jobs and make the majority of them available to qualified lower-income candidates. Retention of jobs can also be considered as a qualifying factor;
- The business must agree to enter in an agreement with CTED and the local job service center to obtain referrals of qualified lower income job candidates for new non-managerial jobs created by the loan.
- The Washington Technology Center, through its Research and Technology Development (RTD) Grant Program, competitively awards more than $1.2 million annually to applied research projects that show strong potential for generating long-term economic results in Washington state. Funding through this grant program helps to move innovative ideas out of the laboratory and into the commercial marketplace.
- Washington Economic Development Finance Authority offers tax-exempt bonds to use for construction of facilities, or for projects that result in turnkey operation of a facility in reconstruction. Some of the advantages of industrial revenue bond (IRB) financing over conventional financing include:
- Comparatively lower interest rates
- Longer terms on the credit extended
- Potential 10 percent financing for certain eligible projects
For more program or general information, contact the EDC at 360.754.6320, or send an e-mail to brc@thurstonedc.com