§2324.  Loan guarantees; direct loans; grants

A.(1)  The corporation is authorized and empowered to loan or to guarantee to any eligible applicant, as determined by rules and regulations of the corporation, a sum not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, or expanding a small business incubator.

(2)  Any loans or guarantees made under the program shall be secured by the applicant's granting the state of Louisiana a security interest in that portion of the fixed asset for which the loan is granted or guaranteed.  Nothing in this Paragraph shall prohibit the security interest of the state from being primed by or subordinated to another security interest based on public or private capital invested in the real property of the applicant prior to the granting of the loan or guarantee.

(3)  The interest charged on any direct loan made under the program shall not be less than the interest rate paid by the state for bonds issued by the corporation and shall not exceed that rate by more than two points.

B.(1)  The corporation is authorized and empowered to grant to any eligible applicant, as determined by rules and regulations of the corporation, a sum not to exceed fifty percent of the eligible project cost, but in any case not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, or expanding a small business incubator.

(2)  A grant under the program shall be available only to an applicant who is able to satisfactorily document to the corporation that he has funding available from other sources for the eligible project in an amount which matches, on a fifty-fifty basis, the amount of the grant for which he has applied.

Acts 1995, No. 180, §1; Acts 1995, No. 276, §1, eff. July 1, 1995.