Business owners must submit a business plan, then follow up three months later with a report on how the grant proceeds were used. The grants are made possible largely through a partnership with the Trickle Up Program, based in New York City. Both CEI programs are intended for residents of Maine only. In Wisconsin, the West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency Inc. has created the Business Investment Trust. The program is open to new and existing businesses operated by residents with low household incomes in the counties of Barron, Dunn, Chippewa, Pepin, Pierce, Polk and St. Croix.
Participants obtain loans through the agency's revolving loan fund.
Forty percent of the loan repayment is placed into an escrow account, and if all payments are made on time for 12 consecutive months, the borrower can receive another loan for 40 percent of the repayment value. Inc. All rights reserved.