Can USDA Help You Get Your Deal Done?

The answer may be a resounding YES if you are looking to do a transaction in a rural community. I recently interviewed Dave Chestnut and Matt Harris from the local USDA/Rural Development office in Champaign, Il. Wow! All I can say is that they blew my socks off when it came to the shear number of programs that they have in the USDA playbook to help you get a deal done. Oh and another important point THEY HAVE MONEY! and THEY HAVE A MANDATE TO LEND! That's right in addition to their normal adequately funded budget they have been given an additional $45,000,000.00 to help spur economic development, facilitate the purchase or sale of a business, help a farmer or agribusiness expand or even just help you sell that gas station on the corner! No kidding they have what one might might be tempted to call a "best kept secret" type of thing going if it weren't for the fact that they are doing everything they can to get the word out. Besides all of this they are easy to work with. You start by talking to your banker. That's right your personal neighborhood banker can help you navigate the paperwork and process. The program works best that way simply because there is some paperwork involved which is about the only downside to working with USDA. So if you can handle that (which your banker will help you do) and your deal is not in a community with a population over 50,000 people then USDA may just be the answer to getting your deal done! The entire interview with Dave Chestnut and Matt Harris can be heard on the radio show Central Illinois Business in January. The program airs Saturday mornings at 11:00a on 1400A.M.