El Paso County FASTER Forgivable Loan Program

Thank you for your interest in applying to the El Paso County FASTER Forgivable Loan Program with PeopleFund. Please read through the following program eligibility guidelines, requirements, process, and timeline before moving forward.

Eligibility Guidelines

  • Business must reside within El Paso County (including the City of El Paso and surrounding County areas)
  • Must have been in operations prior to January 1st, 2020
  • Cannot be within any of the following business activities: National franchise, local franchise with more than one location, businesses with age restrictions for patrons, financial institutions where credit is granted, political or lobbying organizations, e-commerce or totally virtual businesses, real estate investment or passive real estate income, anything that is deemed federally or locally barred or illegal
  • Cannot be involved with any of the following program exclusions: Employee or spouse of employee of El Paso County; persons/entities who are a party to a lawsuit against El Paso County within the past 24 months; persons/entities who have been a party to a contract with El Paso County that has been terminated in the past 24 months because of insufficient performance; persons/entities that have received a citation for failure to comply with health directives or orders issued by the El Paso County Judge, City of El Paso Mayor, or Texas Governor; persons who are also an elected official
  • Cannot have more than 50 W-2 employees
  • Must meet credit qualification criteria
  • Any business that has received a Build Safe grant or Commercial General assistance grant will have the amount of their loan reduced by the amount of grants received

Program Process and Timeline

  1. Complete a short pre-eligibility check (link can be found at the bottom of this page)
  2. A PeopleFund team member will be in touch with you within ten business days once you have completed the pre-eligibility check
  3. Once you are determined pre-eligible, PeopleFund will send you an invitation to apply for the program utilizing a loan management system called Lenderfit
  4. Complete the application questionnaire and upload all required documents
  5. Complete a 1-hour business coaching session with one of our team members to discuss your COVID response plan, use of funds, and items needed for forgiveness
  6. Upload proof of your forgiveness criteria met and sign your closing documents
  7. Funds will be deposited within 10 business days

*This program is first-come-first-served and your application will be processed in the order received.

Program Requirements

Communication

All communication for this program will either come from [email protected] OR through the Lenderfit (loan management) system. Please keep all program communication to the Lenderfit system once you have applied, if possible. If needing to schedule a phone call or if you have questions or concerns regarding the Lenderfit (loan management) system, please email [email protected]. Minimal phone calls and emails helps us to prioritize processing applications in a timely manner.

Forgiveness

The FASTER program is a forgivable loan program offering loans up to $50,000 at 0% interest. The goal of this program is for borrowers to meet the criteria to obtain full forgiveness of the debt meaning that the debt DOES NOT need to be paid back. In order to qualify for forgiveness, you must meet 4 of the following 10 requirements:

  1. Historically underutilized business or HUB (Minority, Veteran, Women-owned)
  2. Non-essential business that voluntarily reduced capacity below guidelines and directives issued by health authority, Texas Governor, or County Judge by 25%
  3. Provides all employees with a living wage of $12/hour or more
  4. Seeking to install or have already installed (during the COVID-19 pandemic) new equipment that promotes public health and safety for employees and patrons (could include a drive thru or walk-up service window, plexiglass or other clear shields, HELP air filtration, bi-polar ionization, UV light purification, or other specialized equipment that limits the spread of contagion via anti-microbial or anti-septic technology)
  5. Utilized or utilizes delivery, curb-side, or al fresco dining or other services that allow the business to have zero interaction with customers in doors for a period of 90 days
  6. Constructed or will construct semi-open facilities to move operations involving customer interactions away from indoor facilities
  7. Invested or will invest in technological solutions that either allow employees to work from home for at least 120 days or increase digital sales
  8. Replaced or going to replace the point of sale (POS) system with one that allows for touchless payments
  9. Participate in a business coaching program or curriculum (all applicants should check “Yes” to this item as this is a requirement of the loan)
  10. Other proposals may be considered

PeopleFund will require you to upload proof of each forgiveness item selected in order to close the loan.

Use of Funds

This program provides businesses with $50,000 to use towards business continuity and recovery. You will be required to disclose how you will use your funds during the application process.

  • Any business that has received a Build Safe grant or Commercial General assistance grant will have the amount of their loan reduced by the amount of grants received
  • Any business that has received over $50,000 in Paycheck Protection Program funds combined from both rounds cannot utilize this loan for payroll
  • If you list an item for forgiveness such as purchasing a piece of PPE or safety equipment, we will either need to see that on your use of funds OR it will need to have been purchased after March of 2020

Please click here if you are ready to apply.

Please click here to learn more about financial assistance in El Paso.