The Bloomington City Council reviewed the progress of the Rapid Response Fund on Wednesday night. Funds from the program were distributed in April after local businesses were financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications for Bloomington’s Rapid Response Fund will be accepted until Dec. 1 due to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s eighth renewal of the public health emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jane Kupersmith, assistant director for Small Business Development, said she anticipates the program may extend longer.
“I think we will see more without a doubt, given the winter pressures on business,” Kupersmith said.
She reported two new businesses have requested loans through the program and two more requested additional funding to their preexisting loans.
Kupersmith said out of the more than 200 applicants the city has received, seven businesses were denied loans. Some of these applicants were turned away because they did not meet the loan’s criteria of being a part of the tourism industry or being located in Bloomington’s enterprise zone.
There are currently no live applications for loans.
The Rapid Response Fund is paid for by an allocation of $2 million from the Food & Beverage Tax revenues and $350,000 from the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association. It is not an interest-free loan. The council discussed the possibility of making it an interest-free loan in the future, but no changes have been made at this time.
Kupersmith shared testimonials she received from loan recipients. These testimonials reflected the swift effect the loans had on small businesses in Bloomington.
“The original RRF loan helped get us through slower months when students were gone to continue paying our employees,” a representative from inBloom Juicery said in their testimony. “We’re in a healthy place financially to continue paying our employees through what will inevitably be a slower winter.”
Ordinance 20-26, which will allow Bloomington Utilities to fund improvements to the city’s sewer and stormwater infrastructure, was passed unanimously by the board. The new system will be more electrically efficient and will replace decades-old structures.
The project will cost $38.4 million total and $8 million of those costs will be covered by funds on hand. The remainder will be funded by the selling of bonds. The project will not affect the stormwater fee.
Ordinance 20-27 improves Bloomington’s fats, oils and grease program. The FOG program regulates more than 600 foodservice establishments in Bloomington to limit the prevalence of fats, oils and grease in sewers.
The ordinance would ask for the installation of new grease regulating devices across the city. These would be checked every 90 days. This ordinance was passed unanimously.
