Businesses Take Job-Growth Loans

The federal government has given out nearly $2.4 million in guaranteed loans to North Idaho businesses over the past year.

The loans are designed to spur job growth in communities affected by the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Competition from Canadian timber imports qualified Kootenai, Benewah, Bonner and Shoshone counties for the program, said Daryl Moser, director of rural business cooperative services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Idaho.

The counties are among 35 locations in the country that qualify. Minidoka County in southern Idaho also qualifies because of competition from Canadian potato growers.

About $1 billion in guaranteed loans are available nationwide on a “first come, first grab basis,” Moser said.

The program provides a loan guarantee to a bank or other lender to finance company expansion. Businesses using the financing must create or retain at least one job for every $70,000 in loan money.

The guaranteed loans granted in North Idaho over the past year are:

$1.2 million to Clark Oil Co., Sandpoint, for a Texaco gas station/ convenience store with an A&W restaurant, creating 23 new jobs.

$450,000 to Hartford Communications Corp., Priest River, to purchase software and equipment to manufacture a voice mail product. The expansion created nine jobs.

$402,000 to O’Malley’s Restaurant, Rathdrum, a new sports pub and grill.

$332,000 to Northwest Tile and Floors, Coeur d’Alene, to build a larger store, creating 11 jobs.

Since the program began in 1997, six Idaho companies have received a total of $3.4 million in guaranteed loans, creating or retaining about 131 jobs, Moser said.

For more information on the program, call 765-2086.