Board of County Commissioners approves Commissioner Eileen Higgins’ transformative legislation to create a Revolving Loan Fund for Small Businesses
MIAMI-DADE – At the June 2 Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners meeting, the Board approved legislation sponsored by Commissioner Eileen Higgins, District 5, to create the RISE Miami-Dade Fund, a transformative revolving loan fund for small businesses in Miami-Dade County with initial seed funding of $25 million from Miami-Dade County. Mayor Carlos Gimenez has already committed to quickly signing the legislation.
Commissioner Higgins has worked closely with Mayor Gimenez and his team to develop the RISE Miami-Dade Fund (Re-Investing in our Small Business Economy). Initially, the Fund seeks to help small and micro businesses across the County access capital and receive the technical financial assistance they need to weather the COVID-19 crisis. But in the longer term, it will become part of Miami-Dade’s permanent small business infrastructure.
“The RISE Miami-Dade Fund will not only help our businesses recover from the effects of COVID-19, it will forever be a permanent part of the small business infrastructure in Miami-Dade,” said Commissioner Higgins. “Never before has the County made such a deliberate investment into our small business economy, giving more and more of our residents the opportunity to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true—and to experience the freedom and independence that owning your own business provides. I thank my Board colleagues for unanimously supporting this historic vote.”
The $25 million allocation comes from the flexible funds recently provided to local governments by the federal government through the CARES Act—monies that were earmarked for boosting local economies. Commissioner Higgins’ legislation calls for the Fund to lend to small and micro businesses that have historically faced challenges in accessing capital.
The RISE Miami-Dade Fund will also seek to raise private dollars to bolster the Fund, with the objective of accumulating over $50 million. As the funds get paid back over time, the dollars will be available to be lent to additional small businesses around the County.
Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez said: “The RISE Miami-Dade Fund will energize opportunities for small businesses throughout our County. These businesses are the driving force of our local economy and they need our help now. I’m proud to have worked with Commissioner Higgins to bring this program to life as we continue to support small businesses in our community – businesses that are a path to prosperity for so many of our residents.”
The RISE Miami-Dade Fund will be established in partnership with the Dade County Federal Credit Union (DCFCU), who will act as the administrator of the Fund. DCFCU has an extensive history of serving the Miami-Dade community since its establishment in 1939. DCFCU has ten offices throughout the County, with over 110,000 members and has the financial stability and technical resources required to service the loans.
DCFCU will, in turn, partner with local community development financial institutions (CDFIs) which will originate and package the loans. CDFIs are lending institutions certified and regulated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that specialize in assisting small business, including women- and minority-owned businesses access commercial lending they otherwise may not be able to obtain. They not only provide low cost loans with favorable interest rates and repayment periods, they also offer technical financial assistance, such as building, marketing and budgeting assistance to help strengthen and grow the businesses.
In addition, the Fund will seek financial support to bolster the infrastructure of the program as well as funds to be used for lending capital. As the first corporate supporter of the RISE Miami-Dade Fund, Citi has committed financial support to establish the Fund, plus additional dollars from the Citi Foundation to directly supporting the capacity of Community Development Financial Institutions to implement the program and build their capacity to assist small businesses well into the future.