Small business loans are offered

Dickenson County businesses could benefit from a $100,000 pool of loan funds from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority.

The authority announced last Thursday that during a special called meeting, its board approved loan funds up to $740,000 to help offset the economic blow to local businesses and at the Breaks Interstate Park.

Up to $590,000 will be loaned to the eight county and city industrial and economic development authorities in the VCEDA region for distribution to local businesses impacted by COVID-19.

The park will get a loan of up to $150,000.

“VCEDA was approached by all the county/city industrial and economic development authorities in the VCEDA region seeking loan funds from each of their respective county/city VCEDA accounts to be able to re-loan those funds to local businesses which have been negatively impacted and/or forced to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective localities,” said Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “It was expressed to VCEDA that the situation is very dire and that if something is not done to assist these local businesses, many of them may go under and never re-open.”

Local businesses hit by the emergency can contact their local industrial development authority or economic development authority for more information.

Approved funding includes $100,000 each to the Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan and Tazewell county IDAs; $40,000 to the Norton IDA; $75,000 to the Russell County IDA; $50,000 to the Scott County EDA; and $25,000 to the Lee County EDA.