NYS launches $10M Main Street Capital Program | Long Island Business News

New York State has launched the Main Street Capital Program, a $10 million fund to provide startups and early-stage businesses with access to loans of up to $100,000.

The program is part of the state’s Small Business Credit Initiative, which is designed to help bridge the financing gap that entrepreneurs can face when launching and growing their businesses.

Deeming businesses “a key driver of our economic growth,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release about the fund that the “Main Street Capital Program will boost and strengthen our small businesses, especially our minority and women entrepreneurs, creating jobs and investment in New York State.”

The program offers minimal payments for the first 12 months of the loan to give businesses more flexibility as they launch and grow. Loans will be up to six years with a fixed interest rate of 9.9%. In the first year, borrowers will pay less-than-interest-only, with no principal payments during that time.

The program is a partnership between Empire State Development and Pursuit, community lender with an office in Melville. The lender has a 70-year history serving businesses in all stages in New York State and other states.

During the startup and early-growth phases of business, entrepreneurs often lack access to needed equity and networks for financing. The Main Street Capital Loan Fund aims to deliver a more accessible option, particularly for Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individual Owned Business and Very Small Business entrepreneurs with fewer than 10 employees.

“The Main Street Capital Program is one of the ways Empire State Development is helping provide promising start-ups and early-stage companies the tools they need to launch, grow and achieve business success,” Hope Knight, Empire State Development president and CEO, said in the news release.

“New York State has been a foundational partner of Pursuit for decades,” Pursuit CEO Chris Levy said in the news release.

“We are thrilled to be launching another innovative program that benefits underserved startup businesses throughout New York State by ensuring they have a path to success,” Levy added.

“New and early-stage small businesses often need more time to grow their revenues before repaying their debt, and this time crunch can lead them to predatory sources for capital,” Steve Cohen, Pursuit’s Community Development Financial Institution Affiliate president, said in the news release. “The Main Street Capital Loan Fund offers New York’s newest and smallest businesses their best chance at long-term success by providing flexible capital and advisory services to support their future.”

The program requires that startups and early-stage businesses complete a pre-application questionnaire. Based on their responses, they will be invited to complete a full application for the program, or they may be connected with their local Entrepreneurial Assistance Center or Small Business Development Center for additional support.

More information about the fund, eligibility and requirements is available on the program’s webpage.