Julie Rigrish of Southeast Indiana ISBDC joins Southern Loan Committee for Indiana Statewide CDC, Indiana's largest SBA 504 lender

Julie Rigrish, southeast region director of the Indiana Small Business Development Center is joining the Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation's Southern Loan Committee. Indiana Statewide CDC works with local lenders to provide loans to small business owners from the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loan program. The SBA 504 program is a partnership between a bank lender who provides a conventional loan for 50% of the project and Indiana Statewide CDC (SBA) that typically provides 40% of the financing. The borrower is responsible for the remaining 10%, a lower down payment than conventional loans require. The resulting terms can give small business owners long-term, fixed rate financing that is more affordable than conventional financing. Indiana Statewide operates with a Board of Directors that oversees operations and three regional loan committees covering northern, central and southern Indiana. The regional loan committees provide local perspective when loan applications are reviewed. The Indiana Statewide CDC has invested over $463 million in more than 1,143 Indiana companies since 1983, creating or saving 26,500 jobs, and is the most prolific CDC in Indiana. Rigrish says, "My interest in joining the Indiana Statewide CDC Southern Loan Committee is that as a previous lender, the SBA loans were a great option to assist small businesses with sustaining and growing. Small business is a large part of our economic growth." Southeast Indiana SBDC, based in New Albany, serves 14 counties in southern and southeast Indiana. It is one of 10 regional locations for the Indiana Small Business Development Center Network. The ISBDC assists and/or counsels businesses with 500 or fewer employees. Whether a start-up business, an established business seeking to expand or merge, or anything in between, the ISBDC assists with marketing, strategic planning, research, projections, and financial packaging.