The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Southeast Missouri State University learned they will receive two federal awards this week.
The Center will receive $994 thousand over five years from the Commerce Department. Outreach director Brian Tapp said the money will be used for research and identifying entrepreneurial ecosystems.
“The key thing is we’re going to be able to provide direct technical assistance to not only southeast Missouri but the region on entrepreneurship development,” Tapp said.
The other federal award is a $1 million loan from the United States Department of Agriculture that can be used for low-interest loans for start-ups and expanding small businesses.
Tapp said these loans will typically run between $25 thousand and $75 thousand, and can help cover the gap between what a bank offers in financing and what the business actually needs.
“A project may need $75 thousand for financing. They may go to the bank, and the bank may say, ‘Well, we can make that loan, but we’re only going to be able to offer you up $35 thousand,’” Tapp said. “Based upon equity injection or what they may have, we may be able to fill that gap.”
