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Department of Housing and Community Development

Rapid Response: DHCD’s Small Business Lending Team Makes First Award to Baltimore Small Business

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A small business owner studies a Korean-language translation of DHCD’s Neighborhood BusinessWorks loan application, part of the small business lending team’s rapid response to the civil unrest that struck the city.

BALTIMORE – A few short weeks after civil unrest rocked Baltimore neighborhoods, DHCD has awarded the first of several loans to help  small businesses in the area get back on their feet, Governor Larry Hogan and Secretary Kenneth Holt announced.

The first loan is through the state’s Neighborhood BusinessWorks program and was awarded less than two weeks after the governor launched the special effort to assist Baltimore small businesses.

Another 15 applications are under review.

“Our goal is to get as many of the more than 300 small businesses in Baltimore that have experienced losses back in business,” said Governor Hogan.  “The Department of Housing and Community Development and every agency in state government are acting as quickly as possible to help the affected areas in the city.”

Through the Maryland Business Recovery Loan program, businesses can receive zero interest loans up to $35,000 through DHCD’s Micro-Enterprise loan program or up to $500,000 through the Neighborhood BusinessWorks program. Learn more about DHCD’s resources for small businesses through Governor Hogan’s Maryland Unites initiative.

Meanwhile, DHCD worked with the federal Internal Revenue Service to reallocate federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits to help rebuild the Mary Harvin Transformation Center, which was destroyed on April 27, just months before its scheduled opening.

The Mary Harvin Center, was about 45 percent completed and scheduled to open in November, when it was burned to the ground at the time of the protests. DHCD’s investment includes nearly $1.2 million in tax credits, equating to approximately $12 million in equity.

“We are grateful that the tax credits for the Harvin Center will be applied to this year,” Secretary Holt said.  “This is a great project that meets a definite need in Baltimore and we are proud to continue to support it.”