Officials from NetWork Kansas were in Ellsworth this past week to welcome Ellsworth County to a program aimed at helping entrepreneurs and small businesses with financing.

The Kansas E-Community Partnership accepted four new communities into its program this year from the 23 applications it received. Ellsworth County was the only successful applicant in western Kansas.

“This is a really big deal, a big accomplishment,” said Stacie Schmidt, executive director of the Smoky Hill Development Corporation.

About a dozen bankers, real estate agents and other local representatives were in the community room of the Ellsworth Golf Course to hear the announcement.

Sarah LaRosh of NetWork Kansas said Ellsworth County was chosen because the development board, which will serve as program gatekeeper, has representatives from across the county.

“We felt this was very honorable and made their application stand out,” she said.

She said Ellsworth County is set to receive $135,000 for distribution to existing and startup businesses. Recipients are limited to $45,000 each and the loan requires a 40 percent match from another lender.

Schmidt said the development corporation continues to work on details, including the interest rate. The organization’s revolving loan fund, which currently has about $30,000 available and can be used in conjunction with an E-Community loan, is 5 percent.

New money is available to E-Communities July 1 of each year.

LaRosh said eligible uses generally include: land purchase (farmers are eligible for the program), real estate, inventory, equipment, blue sky (in the instance of purchasing an existing business) and working capital.

Non eligible uses include: paying off or refinancing debt, salary or owners draw, payroll taxes, non-profit businesses, renovation not tied to a specific business or tearing down or renovating to create housing.

At the same time, LaRosh said the program offers flexibility.

“We’re pretty hands off. If it works for you, it works for us,” she said.

“Push as much as you want. If you want to advocate for something, we’re open to that.”

E-Community is a non-profit partnership that receives support from the Kansas Department of Commerce and the sale of tax credits. Since 2007, 60 communities have loaned more than $15.4 million to more than 480 businesses. At the same time, those businesses have leveraged an additional $75 million in capital.

More information on the program is available from the Smoky Hill Development Corporation, (785) 472-9204. The e-mail address is smokyhilldevcorp@gmail.com