A state development financing agency has agreed to extend $100,000 in subsidized loans to Gloucester seafood businesses hurt financially by this summer's drinking water crisis.
The loans, administered through the Gloucester Revolving Loan Fund with capital from MassDevelopment, had been a goal of state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante since the city suffered through 20 days of a boil water order, starting in August.
Money for the loans comes from a fund with a $145,000 balance that typically finances real estate and business equipment investments throughout Cape Ann.
Ferrante's effort, which included a bill still pending in the Legislature, convinced MassDevelopment to get behind seafood-related enterprises in Gloucester that had to either limit operations or ship in clean water during the boil order.
Yesterday, Ferrante acknowledged by phone the measure "isn't a perfect solution" to the financial pain suffered by the local seafood industry during the crisis, but was "just one more tool to help."
"This is the first step in providing short-term assistance to the business community while we concentrate on the long-term solution of repairing and modernizing our infrastructure," Ferrante said in a prepared statement issued yesterday by MassDevelopment.
The loans, which would provide a maximum of $25,000 per business, are for five years at 4 percent interest.
Fish processing is water-intensive and processors — such as Gorton's — were hit hard when the presence of bacteria in the city water supply forced many to shut down temporarily and others to enlist tanker trucks and other outside help to deliver fresh and potable water. Gorton's had estimated it lost $7,000 a day during the crisis.
The idea behind providing the loans has been to provide liquidity and help companies pay off their water bills from the period of the boil order, and pay them back over a longer period of time or in a more profitable season.
Ferrante said she did not know which specific local companies would be interested in the loans, but said they would have to demonstrate hardship caused by the water crisis.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x 3455, or via e-mail at panderson@gloucestertimes.com
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