The New Mexico Finance Authority, which manages the state’s Small Business Recovery Grant program, is accepting applications until December 7, 2021.
The pandemic recovery grant program was authorized by the New Mexico Legislature in the 2021 regular session to assist businesses that suffered financial hardship during the pandemic. Grants are tied to job creation, and funds must be used as reimbursements of rent, lease or mortgage payments.
To be eligible, a business must
- be operating in New Mexico
- have at least one but fewer than 75 full-time or part-time employees employed at any of the business’s locations
- be current on all state and local tax obligations
- have been impacted by the pandemic; i.e., experienced a decline in business revenue between comparable quarters in taxable years 2019 and 2020
The Finance Authority’s other small-business program, the Small Business Recovery Loan Fund, continues to accept applications through May 31, 2022. Businesses that received a Small Business Recovery Loan in 2020 are eligible to apply to refinance their loan under the new guidelines to receive a longer term and/or larger amount.
And the new terms are attractive:
- The interest rate is one-half of the Wall Street Journal prime rate on the date the loan is approved. Currently, the interest rate is 1.625%.
- The loan term will be ten years unless a shorter term is requested by the applicant.
- No interest will accrue for the first year.
- No payments will be due the first year.
- Interest-only payments will be due on the second and third anniversary dates of the loan.
- After the third year, principal and interest payments will be due monthly. Borrowers with sufficient credit may request an alternative payment schedule.
- The loan may be paid off in advance with no pre-payment penalty.
Most businesses that qualified and received an SBR loan under previous terms are eligible for the enhanced terms. But conversion into the new program is not automatic, and previous loan recipients must reapply by the May 31 deadline. A New Mexico Finance Authority spokesperson said the second application is easier than the first.