BATON ROUGE — Governor John Bel Edwards announced a new program that will offer loans to small businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

Edwards says Louisiana Loan Portfolio Guaranty Program will offer loans of up to $100,000 to Louisiana small businesses of fewer than 100 employees that are impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The loans will require no payments for 180 days and carry below-market interest rates of no more than 3.5 percent. 

“Time and again, Louisianans have demonstrated the desire and commitment to help their neighbors in times of crisis,” Gov. Edwards said. “The Loan Portfolio Guaranty Program is another great example of that service. So far, we have commitments from more than 30 banks across Louisiana who have agreed to participate in this program. We believe it will be instrumental in helping our small businesses recover from the COVID-19 crisis.” 

The LPGP is a partnership of Louisiana Economic Development, which will provide a loan guaranty fund; the Louisiana Bankers Association, whose membership will provide the loans; and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority, which will administer the program. A total loan pool of $50 million will be quickly disbursed to eligible small businesses across Louisiana. 

LPGP loans will provide up to $100,000 in immediate financing to help small firms impacted by COVID-19 meet their payroll, retain employees, pay their rent and mortgages, and keep their lights on and their doors open.

It's not clear how the state loan process may interact with businesses who hope to take loans from the federal, SBA virus loan program.

Interested businesses may find loan details here: https://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/covid19

A list of participating bankers will be posted at the site by Friday as banks complete their participation agreements.