The Southern Opportunity And Resilience (SOAR) Fund is a broad collaboration to support small businesses and nonprofits as they recover from the effects of COVID-19. The SOAR Fund was created by community lenders in the Southern and Southeastern United States to provide economic recovery loans and free business assistance to small businesses and nonprofits at a time when they are facing unprecedented health and economic challenges.  The loans are designed to reach the smallest of small businesses and nonprofits – those with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees – and historically underserved businesses, including those in low-income and rural communities and businesses owned by women and people of color.  These businesses are critical to providing jobs and resources to communities across the South and Southeast through this recovery.

The SOAR Fund is a partnership of local and national community finance organizations created to address the capital needs of historically underbanked communities across the South and Southeast as they attempt to navigate and rebuild after the unprecedented COVID-19 health and economic crisis.  The Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry has operated for more than 40 years to serve these businesses and nonprofits with capital and advisory services. CDFIs are built for purpose – they exist to meet the unique needs of historically underserved communities.

Loans will be made available through local CDFI lenders; currently there are thirteen participating lenders, including:

• Accion Opportunity Fund
• Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE)
• Ascendus
• Black Business Investment Fund Florida (BBIF)
• Business & Community Lenders of Texas (BCL Texas)
• Communities Unlimited
• LiftFund
• National Development Council (NDC)
• Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIFund)
• Pathway Lending
• People Fund
• Southern Bancorp Community Partners
• TruFund Financial Services

The fund is aimed at helping small businesses across the South and Southeast.  The program will be available to small businesses and nonprofits in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, DC and West Virginia.

The SOAR fund aims to raise $150 million to provide affordable capital and free business support to small businesses and nonprofits across the South and Southeast.     

Maximum loan amounts for an individual business or nonprofit are $100,000.

The fund is aimed at helping small businesses and nonprofits across the South and Southeast. 

To qualify, small businesses must employ 50 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, have realized gross revenues of less than $5 million per year, and must have experienced a direct economic disruption as a result of COVID-19.

Nonprofits must employ 50 or fewer full-time (FTE) employees, be a 501(c)(3) or faith-based organization providing direct services, have an annual operating budget of less than $5 million and have suffered a direct economic hardship as a result of COVID-19.     

There will be a particular focus on reaching under-resourced and under-banked communities, including businesses and organizations in low- income areas, rural communities, and businesses owned by women and people of color.

Participating community lenders are responsible for making their own credit decisions. Due to a limited amount of funding availability and the high volume of applications expected, it is anticipated that not all eligible applicants will be able to receive a loan.

• Venturize will allow you to find a free local small business resource center based on your zip code.
• Winrock
• Small Business Development Centers are also available to work with you one on one as you navigate this period of economic uncertainty and consider accessing a loan.

The SOAR Fund pre-application is expected to open in April of 2021. All applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with a target of 2-3 weeks from when a loan application is submitted to a CDFI to closing, depending on how quickly the lender receives a full completed application and the relevant documents. 

To facilitate a timely processing of your loan application, please prepare the required information and documentation in advance and make sure that all information and documentation are complete and accurate. 

The maximum loan amount available under this program is $100,000.

For small businesses, loans are available to you in an amount of either $100,000 or up to 100% of your business’ revenues in any 3-month period from 2019 or first quarter of 2020, whichever is less.  To determine your business’s potential loan size, you can take your 2019 annual revenue and divide it by four.

For nonprofits, loans are available to you in an amount of either $100,000 or up to 100% of your organization’s expenses in any 3-month period from 2019 or first quarter of 2020, whichever is less.  To determine your nonprofit’s potential loan size, you can take your 2019 annual expenses and divide it by four.

Please note that the actual size of the loan for which you may be approved will be determined by the lender after review of your business’s documentation and financial information; the amount of the loan for which you may be ultimately approved may be less than the amount indicated by the example above.

The current fixed annual interest rate for loans issued under the program are:

• 4.00% for for-profit businesses and 3.00% for non-profit organizations for a 60-month term
• 4.50% for for-profit businesses and 3.50% for non-profit organizations for a 72-month term

Proceeds can be used for working capital, inventory, marketing, refitting for new social distancing guidelines, operating and emergency maintenance, property taxes, utilities, rent, supplies, and other appropriate business purposes.

You will be required to detail the proposed use of loan proceeds when you apply to the community lender.

Businesses engaged in certain activities are not eligible (please see question below “What types of businesses are not eligible for a loan?“). Participating community lenders are responsible for making their own credit decisions.

Due to a limited amount of funding availability and the high volume of applications expected, it is anticipated that not all eligible applicants will be able to receive a loan.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and will be managed taking into consideration the program’s goals.

Yes.  The main office or headquarters for your business must be located in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia or Washington, DC to be eligible.

As part of your full loan application, you will need to provide the following documentation to the community lender:

• Most recently filed tax returns, if available and required by the lender;
• Bank statements and/or internally generated financial statements;
• Information regarding business owner(s) with more than 20% ownership, including name, address, SSN, EIN or ITIN, phone number, email, percentage ownership, and photo ID;
• Executed Attestation Form (to be provided by the community lender);
• Brief description of COVID-19 impacts on your business or organization;
• Evidence of legal formation of business or nonprofit entity (e.g., articles of incorporation and bylaws);
• Personal guarantee (if applicable); and
• Other documentation required by the community lender at or after the time of the application

A participating community lender will reach out to you to collect the required documentation, conduct any credit checks, and finalize the application review process.

• Firms engaged in activities that are prohibited by federal law or applicable law in the jurisdiction where the business is located or conducted
• Facilities primarily used for gambling or to facilitate gambling
• Firms engaged primarily in lobbying activities
• Passive real estate investments

No specific collateral is required to be eligible (e.g., you do not need to have access to any specific real estate or equipment). Please note that your CDFI lender may file a blanket first or second lien on business assets, and any owners with more than 20% ownership must sign a personal guarantee.    

The SOAR Fund’s online loan process is highly secure. SOAR’s platform goes above and beyond to protect your sensitive information. The platform uses TDE (Transparent Data Encryption) in SQL (Structured Query Language), which means the data is encrypted at rest. It also encrypts the data between the app server and the database and uses TLS (Transport Layer Security), which protects communications on the internet, for form submissions.  Your information will be used by SOAR solely for the purposes of the loan program.  Among other things, this means that your information may be used in connection with a sale or transfer of your loan, or other transactions involving the loan.

There are no application fees to apply for a loan, but if you are approved for a loan, there is an origination fee that is due to the CDFI lender. This fee will be 4% of the total amount of your loan. There are also minimal third-party fees that may be added to your loan balance and will be determined by the CDFI lender.

You will be apprised of any fees associated with the loan prior to accepting the terms of any loan.

If each business is a separate legal entity, has a separate tax ID and all businesses combined employ 50 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, then you can apply for each of the businesses.  Each business must meet all eligibility requirements.

Yes, you can apply to another participating community lender if you match with multiple participating lenders.  HOWEVER, please be aware that the approval parameters for the participating lenders are largely identical.  Moreover, we ask that you do not apply to a second community lender unless your loan has been rejected by the first lender. 

No.

NO, THIS IS NOT A FORGIVABLE LOAN. Please note, this program is not associated with the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or any other SBA program. The borrower will need to pay back the full amount of the loan with interest over a 5- or 6-year term.

If you do not make a loan payment on time, you may be assessed a late fee by the participating lender per its applicable policies.  A failure to pay also can result in the loan being declared in default and the lender’s exercise of its default remedies under the loan documents. Please review the full terms of your loan agreement for additional details regarding default.