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Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation
1004 Lincoln Avenue/PO Box 288
Wamego, KS 66547
Ph: 785.456.9776 Fax: 785.456.9775
Website: www.ecodevo.com E-Mail: Julie@ecodevo.com
E-Community Program Description
Background:
The Pottawatomie County E-Community program has been created through a Kansas Center for
Entrepreneurship tax credit program and is a cooperative effort between the Pottawatomie County
Economic Development Corporation and local and state government entities and organizations. The
purpose of the program is to encourage entrepreneurial activity in Pottawatomie County focusing
primarily on job creation and retention.
About:
Qualifying entrepreneurial projects may include startup businesses, as well as existing business purchases
and/or expansions. Funding applications may be in the form of a grant or a low interest loan request.
The minimum loan request is $3,000 with a $45,000 maximum amount available per applicant business.
It is anticipated that requests for grants will be scrutinized closely and primarily reserved for projects that
demonstrate a high likelihood of success. Low interest rate loans are the more common funding
mechanism and will require a personal guaranty agreement. Note: if applying for a grant, the E-
Community partner “match”, must also be a grant.
E-Community Guidelines:
Who Qualifies: Loans Funds May Not Be Used For:
Anyone wishing to start, purchase or Paying off or refinancing existing debt
expand a business in Pottawatomie Salary or owner’s draw
County. Payroll taxes
Personal vehicles
Use of funds:
Purchase of business equipment Business that Do Not Qualify:
Purchase of business inventory Non-profit organizations
Purchase of real estate Academic institutions
Working capital Gambling concerns
Existing inventory Floor planning concerns (i.e. wholesale
auto inventory financing)
Fees: Speculative concerns
$50 Application Fee Lending or investment institutions
Multilevel marketing or pyramid sales
Repayment:
12 to 60 month principal and interest Applicants Who are Not Eligible:
No penalty for early repayment Convicted of felony offense
Past due on school loans
Past due on child support payments
Application:
The application should be completed in full. The following list of items should also be considered for
inclusion with the application. Note that applications presented with the most substantial amount of
pertinent information should be actionable in a timelier manner by the board.
Items to include with your application:
Business plan
Financial reports and Performa balance sheets and income and expense projections.
Resumes and 3 references for the principals of the business
Employment projections
Note: the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation maintains a contract with a small
business consultant from the Washburn Small Business Development Center. This contract enables new
and existing businesses to access these services at no cost. For more information about this opportunity,
please contact the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation.
Review:
Completed applications will be reviewed and scored by the Financial Advisory Board within 30 days of
receipt and formal interview will be scheduled with the applicant.
In the formal interview, advisory board members may ask specific questions that pertain to the following
criteria:
Explanation of the applicant’s need for funding and the specific purpose of the funding
Projected sales and employment estimates
Matching funds from Network Kansas partners (at least 40% match required)
Additional funding from public and private sources (i.e. banks, personal investment)
Local support for the project through cooperation of organizations and community leaders
Community benefits of the project
Involvement of Network Kansas resource partners in the project
Description of how funds will be utilized to add resources, enable the business to add jobs,
increase tax revenue and/or improve the quality of life Pottawatomie County.
It should be noted that this program is in its infancy and, as such, the application process will be a work
in progress and should be expected to be fluid in nature.
E-Community Funding Example
Assume the applicant needs a total of $100,000 for business startup costs. Also assume the applicant
has $40,000 of their own capital.
Of the remaining $60,000, the NetWork Kansas funding partner must provide at least $24,000 (40%).
This then leaves a gap of $36,000 (60%), which can be provided by the E-Community fund.
NetWork Kansas funding partners include, but are not limited to*:
Certified Development Companies – Frontier Financial Partners, Inc.
SBA 504, SBA 7a
Regional Foundations (Rural Business Development Tax Credit Program) – North Central
Regional Planning Commission
Kansas Main Street Program – Incentives Without Walls (IWW)
Kansas Department of Commerce- Agriculture Value Added Loans (Marketing Development
Funds, Bridge Loans, Commercialization Funds)
Community Foundations –Wamego Community Foundation and Kansas Rural Community
Foundation
USDA – RBEG, RBOG and Business and Industry Loan Program
Traditional lending institutions (Banks)
*Partners will be added to this list on a periodic basis.
E-Community Financial Advisory Board
The Pottawatomie County E-Community Financial Advisory Board is tasked with making decisions
with regards to application approval and subsequent funding. The board will review applications
deemed complete by the local managing agency (Pottawatomie County Economic Development
Corporation) and a follow-up interview will be scheduled with the applicant(s) receiving preliminary
approval.
During the interview, board members will rate the applicant using the following rubric, which places
emphasis on certain criteria as indicated. Please use the table below to guide your decisions when
preparing the application.
Strength Weight Weighted
Criteria
(1-5) (% of total) Score
Financial soundness 25
Owner/operator experience
15
and business plan
Potential economic impact 20
Owner/3rd party funding 15
Future prospects for growth 15
Quality of life impact 10
TOTAL
Applications approved for funding by the board will be forwarded to the Pottawatomie County
Economic Development Corporation. The Corporation will notify the applicant of the approval, collect
any additional information required and forward the application with a check request to the Kansas
Center for Entrepreneurship for processing.
Those applicants that are denied funding will be provided a list of considerations that could be used to
improve the prospect’s chances of approval. Revised applications may be re-submitted no sooner than
30 days after initial presentation to the board.
The Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation will provide administrative support to
the Pottawatomie County E-Community Program and provide Network Kansas a list of approved
businesses, loan or grant amounts, the application and scoring system used in the approval process and
initial information about the business. All businesses that receive loan or grant funds will be input into
the NetWork Kansas Business Trakker software database for semi-annual follow-up by a NetWork
Kansas Counselor.
The Pottawatomie County E-Community Financial Advisory Board will meet as needed at the
Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation offices at 1004 Lincoln Avenue in Wamego,
Kansas.*
*A quorum of Financial Advisory Board members must be present to take action.
Pottawatomie County E-Community Financial Advisory Board Members:
Mike Rice
Retired, Wamego Telecommunications Inc. (WTC)
Jeannie Johnson
Kansas Flint Hills Tours, LLC
Doug Routh
R-Tech Tool and Machine
Bob Astolfi
Caterpillar Work Tools
Geoffrey Greene
Westar Energy, Jeffrey Energy Center
John Thomason
Flint Hills RV
Greg Unruh
CEO, Community Health Care Systems
Joe Thomas
St. Marys State Bank
Daryn Soldan, ex-officio
Washburn Small Business Development Center
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