Bermuda Economic Development Corporation chairman Nick Kempe announced yesterday that the BEDC and Capital G have launched a ‘Micro Loan product’.Mr Kempe said “The Micro Loan product will be available to all small businesses, island wide; including vendors and those businesses located in a designated Economic Empowerment Zone. Capital G has allocated $100,000 in funds to be used for this product to facilitate small loans in amounts from two thousand dollars up to seven thousand five hundred dollars.“The Micro Loan is designed to assist businesses with inventory purchases and/or capital items directly related to increasing sales or services. The Micro Loan Product was developed in response to an identified gap in the lending market. Results from the BEDC biannual stakeholder survey showed that small businesses were in need of financial assistance for small loan amounts that the banks would not typically finance for commercial purposes.“This product will give the small business person access to the often time-sensitive and secured financing they needed to purchase goods and/or capital items directly related to generating income for their businesses.“The small business Micro Loan product differs from a regular loan in the following ways:• Only offered to start up and existing small businesses. The BEDC defines a small business as Bermudian — owned and managed, operating locally, having an annual gross payroll not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or having annual sales revenues of less than one million dollars ($1,000,000).• It is 100 percent guaranteed by BEDC• The bank interest rate is fixed at 3.5 percent for vendors and EEZ Businesses and 4% for all other small businesses• The applications are processed by BEDC Officers.”Mr. Kempe explained that this is first time that the BEDC has partnered with Capital G to offer a targeted guaranteed programme. “We are confident that this pilot -programme will offer great value to small businesses and will conduct a review in twelve months to assess the demand for the programme to determine if we should extend the programme to include other local financial institutions.“Although this Micro Loan programme will be a first for the BEDC and Capital G it is just one example of our partnership. This is a continuation of a fruitful relationship that has been established over the years. “Previously Capital G has worked with the BEDC by graciously sponsoring events like the annual Rocket Pitch Competition and Launch Pad as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week in Bermuda. In addition they have participated as presenters and panellists in seminars and networking events coordinated by BEDC.The BEDC and Capital G Micro Loan will be available to all small business owners as of October 1st 2013.For further information, contact the BEDC directly by calling 292-5570 or by e-mail at info@bedc.bm