Small business loans to soothe St. Paul LRT woes

A $1.5 million fund to assist small businesses in St. Paul was announced Tuesday by the Metropolitan Council, in a move to “minimize any disruptive effects of building the Central Corridor light rail transit line.” The interest-free loan program aims to ameliorate negative impacts of LRT construction.

The fund, announced at a news conference by Metropolitan Council Chair Peter Bell, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T.Rybak, includes $1 million from Met Council and $500,000 from the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative. The fund was described as part of a “Ready for Rail” package of services to aid small business as LRT is built.

The loan program will be administered by the city of St. Paul. It was created following discussions with the Asian Economic Development Association and input from other business groups concerned about potential negative impacts small businesses might face during the construction of the Central Corridor.

“The Council and our project partners are doing everything we can to reduce the disruptive impacts during construction,” said Bell. “Through our Ready for Rail initiative, we want to help businesses prepare to survive construction and to thrive once it is completed in 2014.”