Photo: Visitor7 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Small businesses on the central coast that cannot get a full bank loan sometimes find gap financing through a regional agency many owners have never heard of: the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, which serves Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties.
What a council of governments does
Councils of governments are regional bodies formed by cities and counties to share services that would be hard for any one of them to run alone. Oregon Cascades West, known as OCWCOG, runs senior and disability services, transportation planning and community development programs. Its economic development arm administers business lending.
Revolving loan funds
Much of that lending comes through revolving loan funds. A federal or state grant, often from the U.S. Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, seeds a pool of money. The council lends it to businesses, and as borrowers repay, the money is lent again. These funds are designed to work alongside banks, filling part of a project’s financing so a bank will take on the rest.
Loans of this kind are typically used for equipment, building improvements, working capital or business purchases, and they usually come with a requirement to create or keep jobs. Terms, rates and eligibility differ by fund, so the council’s lending staff is the place to start.
Why it matters on the coast
Lincoln County’s economy leans on tourism, fishing and seafood processing, health care and government. Businesses in those sectors can be seasonal and hard for lenders to underwrite. Gap lending can help a processor replace equipment, a shop expand or a buyer take over a retiring owner’s business.
Other resources include the Small Business Development Center at Oregon Coast Community College, which offers free advising. For how tourism money moves through the county, read our explainer on lodging taxes.
Dewey Albrecht covers the Port of Newport, commercial and sport fishing and the Yaquina Bay bar.
