Financing Programs
Aggie Bonds
(Beginning and Expanding Farmer Loan Program)
The purpose of Aggie Bonds is to provide affordable financing to new farmers for financing capital purchases. Business Oregon works with the borrower’s local lender to provide this financing. Business Oregon issues a tax-exempt bond for the amount and with the terms of the loan. Because the interest income to the lender is exempt from federal income tax, the lender can charge a lower rate to the borrower. The loan and the bad are secured solely by the collateral required by the lender and are not obligations of Business Oregon of the State of Oregon. Because the lender assumes all credit risk, the lender makes all credit decisions.
Brownfields Redevelopment Fund
A brownfield is a property where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by actual or perceived environmental contamination. The Brownfields programs range in activities from site assessment to cleanup for properties where known or suspected environmental contamination is a barrier to redevelopment.
Business Expansion Program
The Oregon Business Expansion Program is an incentive program available to existing companies expanding operations in Oregon or new businesses coming into the state. The program is a cash-based incentive (forgivable loan) equivalent to the estimated increase income tax revenue from the new hiring.
Business Retention Services Program
The Business Retention Services Program provides consulting services to assist Oregon companies facing difficult times. The program offers companies consulting services that are delivered by some of the best and most experienced private sector consultants in the state. A consultant is matched with a company based on specific needs and industry requirement. The maximum benefits are $15,000 for consulting services and $300,000 for feasibility studies.
Eastern Oregon Business Development Fund
The Eastern Oregon Business Development Fund provides long-term, fixed-rate financing for land, buildings, equipment/machinery, and permanent working capital. Loans can be up to 75% of the total project cost ($500,000 maximum). The loan fund is available through the ten Eastern Oregon counties with the purpose to establish a new business, expand an existing business, create and retain jobs, and develop community projects.
Entrepreneurial Development Fund
The Entrepreneurial Development Loan Fund (EDLF) provides direct loans to help start-ups, micro-enterprises and small businesses expand or become established in Oregon. This fund fills a niche not provided through traditional lending markets. Participants must meet one, or both, of the following criteria: have revenue of less than $500,000 in the previous 12 months, or be a business owned by a severely disabled person.
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Oregon Business Development Fund
The Oregon Business Development Fund is a revolving loan fund that provides fixed-rate financing for land, buildings, equipment, machinery, and permanent working capital. Participants must create or retain jobs and must typically be a traded-sector business in manufacturing, processing or distribution. The program gives preference to projects located in rural and distressed areas and to small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
Oregon Capital Access Program (CAP)
The Oregon Capital Access program helps lender (banks and credit unions) make more commercial loans to small businesses and provides capital for start-up or expansion. The program is designed for non-profit and for-profit businesses seeking funds for most business purposes.
Oregon Credit Enhancement Fund
The Oregon Credit Enhancement Fund is a loan insurance program available to lenders to assist businesses in obtaining access to capital. The fund ensures the repayment of loans made by lenders that provide working capital or fixed-asset financing to businesses.
Oregon Industrial Development Bonds
Oregon Industrial Development Bonds are tax-exempt bonds issued by the State of Oregon, designed to help Oregon manufacturers grow. They provide long-term financing for land, building, and equipment. These bonds finance job creation and business growth for Oregon traded-sector, value-added manufacturers and processors by providing long-term debt financing for land, buildings, and other fixed assets at a rate below prime. Affordable interest rates and tax-exempt status assist in lowering capital expenses. The bonds are available to manufacturers, processors, exempt facilities (e.g., docks or solid waste facilities) and non-profits and provides the greatest benefit to the borrower for bonds of $5 million or more.
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New Markets Tax Credits
The Oregon Low-Income Community Jobs Initiative (Oregon New Markets Tax Credits, or NMTC) program helps finance investments and create jobs in low-income communities. The program also delivers below market rate investment options to Oregon businesses and attracts additional Federal New Markets Tax Credit investments in Oregon.