Record USDA loan provided to Virginia town

10/28/2011

The United States Department of Agriculture recently granted the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia, with a USDA loan worth nearly $100 million, courtesy of the USDA's Rural Development program, the Breeze reports.

The actual amount - $99,500 - will help create a revolving loan fund for local businesses, allowing them to take out additional loans once the original is paid back.

"We've had programs like this in the past, but not this dollar amount," Aaron Ludwig, owner of Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint, told the news source. "Eventually, we'll be able to get much higher amounts."

Small business owners can apply for loans via the Harrisonburg Business Loan Program. The funds will be dispersed in $5,000 increments, with a maximum amount allowed of $25,000.

"There's a place for these $10,000 loans, there's a niche for this," Harrisonburg mayor Richard Baugh told the media outlet. Baugh is referring to microloans - loans typically within the price range that the city will be doling out.

Boston Beer Company - owner of Samuel Adams Brewery - is providing small hospitality and food-based businesses across the northeast and midwest with similar loans through a program called Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, the Wall Street Journal reports.