12 2 STA T . 1 935PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 46—J U NE 1 8, 2008 ‘ ‘ (B)providest r a i n in g and te ch nica l assistance to r u ral m icroentrepreneurs
‘‘( C ) f acilitates access to capital or another service descri b ed in subsection (b) for rural microenterprises; and ‘‘( D ) has a demonstrated record of delivering services to rural microentrepreneurs , or an effective plan to develop a program to deliver services to rural microentrepreneurs, as determined b y the S ecretary . ‘‘( 4 ) MICROL O AN . —T he term ‘microloan ’ means a business loan of not more than $50 ,000 that is provided to a rural microenterprise. ‘‘(5) P RO G RA M .—The term ‘program’ means the rural micro - entrepreneur assistance program established under subsection (b). ‘‘( 6 ) RU RAL MICRO E N T ER P RI S E.—The term ‘rural microenter- prise’ means— ‘‘( A ) a sole proprietorship located in a rural area; or ‘‘(B) a business entity w ith not more than 1 0 full- time-e q uivalent employees located in a rural area. ‘‘(b) RURAL MICROENTREPRENEUR ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— ‘‘(1) E STA B LIS H MENT.—The Secretary shall establish a rural microentrepreneur assistance program to provide loans and grants to support microentrepreneurs in the development and ongoing success of rural microenterprises. ‘‘( 2 ) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is to provide microentrepreneurs with— ‘‘(A) the s k ills necessary to establish new rural micro- enterprises; and ‘‘(B) continuing technical and financial assistance related to the successful operation of rural microenter- prises. ‘‘( 3 ) L OANS.— ‘‘(A) I N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make loans to microenterprise development organi z ations for the purpose of providing fi x ed interest rate microloans to microentre- preneurs for startup and growing rural microenterprises. ‘‘(B) LOAN TERMS.—A loan made by the Secretary to a microenterprise development organization under this paragraph shall— ‘‘(i) be for a term not to exceed 20 years; and ‘‘(ii) bear an annual interest rate of at least 1 percent. ‘‘(C) LOAN LOSS RESER V E F UN D .—The Secretary shall require each microenterprise development organization that receives a loan under this paragraph to— ‘‘(i) establish a loan loss reserve fund; and ‘‘(ii) maintain the reserve fund in an amount equal to at least 5 percent of the outstanding balance of such loans owed by the microenterprise development organization, until all obligations owed to the Secretary under this paragraph are repaid. ‘‘(D) DEFERRAL OF INTEREST AND PRINCIPAL.—The Sec- retary may permit the deferral of payments on principal and interest due on a loan to a microenterprise develop- ment organization made under this paragraph for a 2- year period beginning on the date the loan is made. ‘‘(4) G RANTS.—
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