Ms. Wanda Cowart, President of the Central Mississippi Development Company, Inc. (CMDC), announced the approval of three (3) new loans under the U. S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program and one (1) new loan under the Mississippi Minority Business Enterprise Loan Program.
The three loans under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program were as follows:
- • A.M.R. Petroleum/Shell Convenience Store in the amount of $455,200 of a $1,517,334 project to partially finance a convenience store in Jackson, Mississippi. This business will create or save six (6) jobs in the private sector.
- • Karan Hoss d/b/a/ Beauty Supply Warehouse 11 in the amount of $547,480 of a $1,368,699 project to partially finance a beauty supply warehouse in Jackson, Mississippi. This business will create or save approximately sixteen (16) new jobs in the private sector.
- • Karan Hoss d/b/a/ Beauty Supply Warehouse 12 in the amount of $465,182 of a $1,162,956 project to partially finance a beauty supply warehouse in Jackson, Mississippi. This business will create or save approximately sixteen (16) new jobs in the private sector.
The loan under the Mississippi Minority Business Enterprise Loan Program was as follows:
- • Next Generation Academy, LLC for $132,500 of a $278,250 project to partially finance the acquisition of a child care center and provide working capital for this small business in Jackson, Mississippi. The center will serve sixty-four (64) children and create three (3) new jobs.
CMDC is certified by the U. S. Small Business Administration and works in cooperation with local banks and other financial institutions in providing business loans to small businesses. These loans allow a small business to finance land, building, and equipment with a low down payment and long term financing at competitive interest rates. Fixed rate low interest financing for small businesses saves thousands of dollars in debt service on fixed assets. Also, this type financing provides an alternative to variable rate financing on long term assets. Many economic forecasters are certain that interest rates will rise. These predictable interest rate increases will not have a negative impact on the cash flow of those businesses that have fixed rate low interest loans through the U. S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program. The maximum loan amount is 40% of the total project cost up to a maximum loan amount of $5,000,000 depending on the type of project. The maximum amount for eligible manufacturing projects is $5,500,000.
Ms. Cowart announced that the current interest rates on business loans under the U. S. Small Business Administration’s CMDC remain very low. The interest rates are as follows:
| TERM (YEARS) | INTEREST RATE |
| 10 (September 2014) | 4.69% |
| 20 (September 2014) | 5.00% |
The District manages the Minority Business Enterprise Loan Program (MBELP) that is administered by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), which recognizes the District as a “Qualified Entity” to originate and service loans under the MBELP. The interest rate on loans made through this program cannot exceed two percentage points above or below the Federal Reserve discount rate, which is 0.75% at the present time. Therefore, a minority owned business can obtain a business loan at a fixed rate of 2.75% per annum for a term up to 15 years depending on the use of the loan proceeds.
Small business owners, bankers, commercial loan officers, real estate developers, contractors, and others interested in locking up extremely low fixed interest rates on business loans should call Larry Anderson or Dwayne Perkins at 601-981-1625.
