SMUD Offers Loans To Sacramento Nonprofits Hit By Covid-19

Source: Sacramento Business Journal, Mark Anderson
Photo: Jose Bodipo-Memba is director of sustainable communities at SMUD (COURTESY OF SMUD)

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District is making $500,000 available in low-interest loans for small nonprofit groups in Sacramento County that have been hurt financially by the pandemic.

The applications are available now from SMUD. Requests must be submitted by Sept. 1 for loans that can be used for inventory, construction, repair, payroll, rent, utilities and working capital for nonprofits with fewer than 100 employees.

“They have no place else to go. A lot of the initial loan offerings were not available to nonprofits,” said Jose Bodipo-Memba, SMUD director of sustainable communities.

He said the need is extreme because many of the ways nonprofits raise money, such as events and fundraisers, are gone with no social gatherings allowed.

The loans will range from $1,000 to $10,000, with an occasional exception of up to $25,000. The term of the loan cannot exceed five years, and the interest is set at 2%. There is a $100 application fee that must be paid by the borrower.

Bodipo-Memba said he anticipates the need will exceed the total funding.

Recipients will have to show a proven impact of the pandemic, and they cannot have received any other Covid-19-related loans or grants.

More weight will be given to nonprofits that address one of SMUD’s priority areas, which are social well-being services, environmental health, economic prosperity and mobility.

SMUD will also try to make sure that every district within its area gets a share of the loans, Bodipo-Memba said.

To administer the program, SMUD has partnered with California Capital Financial Development Corp.

In May, SMUD suspended all power shutoffs for late or non-payment until next year, to support customers through the pandemic.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2020/07/20/smud-loans-nonprofits-covid-19