CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – July 8, 2008- Local small businesses damaged by June floods in Cedar Rapids will soon be able to receive the financial, practical and emotional help they need to resume business operations.

The Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation and several community partners announced the formation today of the Job & Small Business Recovery Fund to provide financial assistance to for-profit businesses and commercial property owners in Cedar Rapids that sustained uninsured physical damage as a result of the flood.

The announcement was made at Acme Graphics, 201 Third Ave. SW – one of many Cedar Rapids businesses hit hard by the flood.

“With over 600 businesses and over 9,000 jobs impacted by the flood, it’s critical to get these individuals the help they need,” said Jim Tinker, Chair of Priority One. “By doing so, we are giving hope to employees who have lost their jobs and to businesses that have sustained significant damage”

“Donations to this fund will provide outright grants and zero percent interest, forgivable loans to those small businesses that need it most right now,” said Ralph Russell, Chair of the Chamber Board of Directors.”

Qualifying businesses can receive a base grant of up to $15,000. Fifty percent of the base money awarded will be in the form of a grant and fifty percent will be in the form of a no interest, three-year forgivable loan. Additionally, a grant of up to $5,000 may be awarded to businesses that choose to reinvest in commercial zones affected by the flood in Cedar Rapids; and an additional grant of up to $5,000 can be awarded to those who are both business and property owners and have sustained uninsured physical damage to each.

The Chamber has formed an Administrative Oversight Team for the fund that has developed eligibility criteria, an application (based on the SBA application) and a process for evaluating each application, which will be undertaken by the Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

The Job & Small Business Recovery Fund will be located at The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. One hundred percent of the donations will go directly to local businesses that need financial support to resume operations.

The Chamber and Priority One have seeded the fund with $750,000 to date. But it is believed that in order to be effective for the more than 600 businesses impacted by the flood, the fund would need something in the neighborhood of $15-20 million – a sum outside the realm of the private sector to provide.

“At the current funding level, it is only possible to provide assistance to 30-50 of these small businesses,” said Russell. “That’s why donations are critical.”

Donations to the Job & Small Business Recovery Fund may be made online at www.gcrcf.org. Select “Job and Small Business Recovery Fund” from the selection of flood funds. Or, send donations to:

Business Recovery Fund
c/o The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
200 First St. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Please include in the check memo “Business Recovery Fund”.

Visit www.corridorrecovery.org to download a grant application for the Job & Small Business Recovery Fund. That application will be available online starting this Friday, July 11.

In addition, the Chamber announced the formation today of an Adopt-A-Business Program, to give flood-damaged businesses a partner in their recovery efforts. The program aims to provide these businesses with the practical and moral support they will need during the coming months as they begin to rebuild.

The Adopt-A-Business Program is fairly simple. Individual or groups of businesses not directly affected by the flood would choose to adopt a business that had experienced flood damage if that business chooses to start over again somewhere in Cedar Rapids.

The Chamber would solicit adopting businesses and pair them with businesses needing assistance. It would then be the responsibility of the adopted pair to determine what level of involvement would occur.

Those businesses wishing to adopt a business – or those businesses wishing to be adopted – should contact Kelly Slaughter at the Chamber at kslaughter@cedarrapids.org or 730.1417.