“Hopefully we might be making loans to downtown Jonesborough companies quickly,” he added.
A verify for $125,000 was offered to the city on Friday.
Rhea added the First Tennessee Improvement District made the choice to do that program again within the fall and have already had a Jonesborough enterprise that needed to restore their roof.
“We will do direct loans and use $14,000 to restore his roof,” Rhea mentioned. “So, we’ve already accomplished a mortgage to a enterprise in Jonesborough. Simply occurred to work out that approach.”
Jonesborough Mayor Chuck Vest mentioned he seems to be ahead to the advantages this program will present the small enterprise homeowners downtown.
“I feel it’s going to permit our companies to perhaps purchase some new gear to assist them develop their enterprise which can enhance their funds, but in addition enable them to rent some extra private as their enterprise will increase,” he mentioned.
The success that City Administrator Glen Rosenoff noticed from this system in Erwin led him to start trying into it for Jonesborough a couple of 12 months in the past.
“With him (Rosenoff) and Jonesborough Director of Tourism Cameo Waters working collectively, they lastly introduced it to fruition,” Vest mentioned.
Rosenoff added he thinks this system might be a “large success.”
“There’s cash, there’s individuals, they need to spend money on our downtown and now we’ve type of put them collectively beneath one financial instrument,” Rosenoff mentioned.
Rhea’s purpose for the mortgage program is to assist companies to get began and do all of the repairs they want, and he defined that there are similarities with the brand new program and getting a mortgage by means of a financial institution.
“Sometimes, the enterprise has to place collectively monetary data just like what you’ll put collectively for a financial institution,” he mentioned. “We have now to get the monetary data. I’ve a mortgage committee that has to evaluation the mortgage packet. Then we approve the mortgage. Typically there may be some building concerned, so it takes a bit of little bit of time. However we work with the enterprise all by means of the method starting to finish.”
In case you are a enterprise on the lookout for such a monetary alternative, please contact the First Tennessee Improvement District at (423) 928- 0224. Or you may contact Rhea immediately at (423) 722-5098.