By Martha B. Jacob –Â
In 2013, in its efforts to help the Village of Ripley grow, Ripley Council approved a Revolving Loan Program after receiving a $99,000 Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) and the village added an additional $10,000 bringing the total to $109,000 which would be made available to Ripley businesses both new and old.
The RBEG is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development with funding provided by the USDA. The grant funds are strictly for the use of developing new business loans and for the expansion of existing businesses. A special Revolving Loan Committee was formed to review all applications for the loans, deciding if they met all the criteria for receiving a loan.