The state of Vermont is putting some money where its mouth is — $800,000 to be exact — to assist disaster relief from Tropical Storm Irene.
The funding is part of $1.4 million in low-cost loans being made available from the Vermont Economic Development Authority to assist businesses, farmers and nonprofits to recover from the flood devastation. The $800,000 is being added to $600,000 remaining in VEDA funds set aside for loans to help businesses in the May floods, making the total available $1.4 million.
Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding said the funds will carry a broad impact because they are expected to “leverage” up to $10 million in financing for businesses affected in many ways by Irene.
The decision to appropriate the funds was made in the state capital in Montpelier by a key money panel that meets when the Legislature is not in session. The Vermont Emergency Board unanimously approved the funds Tuesday afternoon in a meeting chaired by Gov. Peter Shumlin. Besides the governor, the Emergency Board comprises legislative leaders and chairs of key money committees in the House and Senate who are authorized to make funding decisions while the Legislature is out of session.
Shumlin said there was urgency to help Vermonters as quickly as possible, and while there will be federal assistance, “they move a little more slowly than we can.”
He praised VEDA for its leadership and quick turnaround in processing loan applications in as little as 48 hours.
Jo Bradley, CEO of the Vermont Economic Development Authority, said the state already has made 66 loans by phone and is averaging a turnaround of just three days in processing requests. (Information is available at www.VEDA.org or via email at irene@veda.org)
After the meeting, she said the loans range from as small as $5,000 to the maximum of $100,000. Bradley listed some of the hard-hit businesses receiving the maximum, which include the Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Homestead Landscaping in Bondsville near Stratton, the Crafts Inn in Wilmington and Simon Pearce in Quechee.
Among other businesses getting loans were the historic Inn at Long Trail atop Route 4 near Killington, the Viking Motel in Wilimington and a Waterbury company that owns a laundromat and makes specialized saws.
She said what struck her about the damage from Irene is that it made “no distinction” in hitting those famous and less well-known, big and not-so-big, such as a small composting company that received a $5,000 loan.
Sugarbush Resort President Win Smith said the funding lined up by VEDA for the ski area would be used to repair the resort’s 25-million-gallon snowmaking pond near the Mad River, which was silted up and filled with debris in the flooding.
Smith said repairing the damage was essential and would total several hundred thousand dollars and be done before winter. With uncertainty about what the resort’s insurance would cover, having the VEDA loan lined up was “really comforting,” he said.
According to Spaulding, the maximum loan amount will be $100,000, compared to $25,000 after the May floods, due to the severity and size of the damage from Irene.
Eligible for financing under the loan program are damages to and/or losses of inventory, equipment, business premises, feed, crops and livestock. Bradley said a key aspect is that there will be no payments for the first year, and that the interest rate will be 1 percent for the first two years of the loan.
According to Spaulding, farmers were not included in the May program, but due to the extensive damage to agricultural lands this time, they were made eligible.
Gov. Shumlin told the board that preliminary estimates are that some 10,000 acres of agricultural land were affected by the flooding, much of that prime crop land. Bradley said few farmers had applied for help yet, perhaps because they were still assessing the damage.
The Emergency Board also approved a transfer of $5 million from the Vermont Corrections budget, which Spaulding said would be used to cover anticipated expenses still being tallied by the state for damage to its property.
