Photo: Andrew Dunn

In an opportunity for small-business owners, this month’s rates for both 20-year and 10-year Small Business Administration’s 504 loans are at their lowest levels since the program began.

The program has nominated a number of Certified Development Companies to help finance 680 small businesses with the loans in September alone. The loans have been used for a variety of projects: upgrading facilities to be more environmentally friendly, purchasing new equipment and adding jobs in their communities, for example.

Defense contractor PFM Manufacturing Inc. used a 504 loan from the Montana Community Finance Corporation to purchase land and a manufacturing facility for its Landtamer amphibious military vehicle. PFM estimates it will create 10 new jobs over the next two years due to the loan.

Chris Crawford, president of NADCO, the trade association for CDCs, said, “These incredibly attractive rates for long-term, fixed-rate financing present a real opportunity for small-business owners to realize their dreams of owning their own buildings or acquiring the expensive equipment or machinery they need right now.”

In addition to the 504 loans, many CDCs also provide small businesses with short-term and long-term federal, state and local economic development loan programs.