The Minneapolis City Council announced on Friday that a new forgivable loan program has been approved for businesses at George Floyd Square, located at the intersection of 38th St. and Chicago Ave. in South Minneapolis.
The program will provide $50,000 loans to small businesses or commercial property owners in the area. The loans will have deferred payments at 0% interest and will be forgiven if the business remains open and in place for a year after entering into the loan agreement.
Related Story: Black businesses in George Floyd Square ask City of Minneapolis for help
Many of the businesses in the area have suffered a loss in revenue in the wake of the intersection’s shutdown following the tragic police killing of George Floyd and subsequent unrest.
Businesses and organizations eligible for the loans include:
- Small, privately held businesses, including not-for-profit, non-sectarian organizations, with locations on 38th Street and Chicago Avenue within the boundaries of George Floyd Square, defined as East 37th Street on the northern boundary, East 39th Street on the southern boundary, Columbus Avenue South on the west, and Elliot Avenue on the east.
- Businesses that were open and located within the designated area as of March 30, 2021 and are open as of the date of the application.
- Business tenants with a leasehold interest in commercial property and/or owners of the commercial property. If an applicant owns multiple parcels and/or businesses in the area or is both the owner and occupant of a commercial space, such an applicant would be eligible for one loan, not multiple ones.
- Businesses must be in good regulatory standing with the City.
The City will release an online application next week with more details on the program including the application requirements and deadline. The City will accept applications on a rolling basis over multiple weeks.
Given an estimate of the number of potentially eligible businesses and commercial properties located in the eligible area, the program may deploy around $1 million in loans.
—Information provided by the City of Minneapolis.
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