Interest Rates Lowered on State Programs

Recently the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) announced changes to two of its long-term flagship financing programs. These changes could be very beneficial to your company and we wanted to bring this information to your attention.

The two programs are the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) Program and the Machinery and Equipment Loan Fund (MELF) Program. DCED has announced the lowering of the interest rates on these two programs and the elimination of the administrative fees for approved applications.

For any PIDA or MELF loan application that the DCED receives by July 1, 2014, PIDA, which is utilized for the brick and mortar portion of the project, will provide 50% or up to $2 million dollars of your project cost at an interest rate of 2.25% for a term of 15 years; and MELF, which can be utilized for equipment needs, can provide 50% or up to $5 million dollars for a 7-10 year term at the 1.75% interest rate. In addition, both programs, PIDA and MELF, will waive their 1% commitment fee.

It is not necessary for the application to be approved by DCED by the July 1, 2014 date; the application must just be submitted for presentation at the last eligible Board meeting date. However, in order to be eligible for the lower interest rate they must have a complete application package.

If your company is engaged in manufacturing, industrial, agri-business, computer or clerical centers, are a national or regional headquarters, a research and development business or a Keystone Innovation Zone business and you are planning a capital improvement project, land acquisition, land development, building improvement, expansion or new construction including corporate office facilities, or the purchase of production equipment in the immediate future, please contact ABCD Corp.

Our staff can review your plans and discuss the details of these two very

attractive financing programs. Both the PIDA and MELF Programs have job creation and/or job retention requirements that we can further discuss with you. In addition, securing an approval now gives

you up to two years to actually close and fund the PIDA and/or MELF loans.

In addition to the PIDA and MELF rate reductions, DCED also lowered rates to 1.75% and waived the fees for its Pollution Prevention Assistance Program, Export Financing Program and Small Business First Fund. Again, these applications must be submitted prior to July 1, 2014.

Please contact Barry Surma or Paul

Cooney at 814-944-6113 to explain the details of the programs and to assist your company in the completion of a funding application(s). Time is of the essence so we are requesting that

if you are considering a capital improvement project you contact us immediately.