Press Release

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $800,000 to Establish Revolving Loan Fund to Support Business Recovery Efforts Near Opportunity Zone in South Dakota Counties

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding an $800,000 grant to the South Eastern Development Foundation, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to capitalize a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) that will provide gap financing to businesses in a six-county region impacted by 2019 floods and storms. The EDA grant project, to be located near a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $200,000 in local funds and is expected to help create more than 40 jobs and generate $9 million in private investment.

“President Trump is dedicated to providing businesses with the resources they need to recover from natural disasters,” said Dana Gartzke, Performing the Delegated Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “EDA is pleased to support the South Eastern Development Foundation’s strategy to advance economic resilience by providing critical financing to small businesses. Additionally, the lending area’s location near an Opportunity Zone will further strengthen the region’s economy.”

Floods and tornadoes that impacted southeastern South Dakota in the spring and summer of 2019 adversely affected urban and rural business operations. This EDA investment will provide a financing avenue to support long-term recovery and resiliency efforts throughout the region.

The funding announced today will help catalyze private investment in a nearby Opportunity Zone. Created by President Donald J. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Opportunity Zones are spurring economic development in economically-distressed communities nationwide. In June 2019, EDA added Opportunity Zones as an Investment Priority, which increases the number of catalytic Opportunity Zone-related projects that EDA can fund to fuel greater public investment in these areas. To learn more about the Commerce Department’s work in Opportunity Zones, please visit EDA’s Opportunity Zones webpage. To learn more about the Opportunity Zone program, see the Opportunity Now resources page here.

This project is funded by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-20) (PDF), which provided EDA with $600 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) Program (PDF) funds for disaster relief and recovery for areas affected by Hurricanes Florence, Michael, and Lane, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and other major natural disasters occurring in calendar year 2018, and tornadoes and floods occurring in calendar year 2019, under the Robert T. Stafford Act. Please visit EDA’s Disaster Supplemental webpage.

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation's regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.