Micro managing
Could a small loan program help P.E.I. small business up their entrepreneurial game?

ERIN MCGRATH-GAUDET says she is “cautiously optimistic” about a new micro-loan program for entrepreneurs the P.E.I. government rolled out this spring.

While that’s probably as much praise as a government can expect when it launches a new initiative, McGrath-Gaudet, who is the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ P.E.I. director, sounds hopeful the microloan program will benefit small business owners in a big way. “Many entrepreneurs are either self-employed or have one or two employees and they are not looking for millions of dollars in financing,” McGrath-Gaudet says. “They just need a small amount to get to the next level.”

And that’s where the new micro-loan program should come in handy. Finance P.E.I., a Crown corporation, will provide loans up to $15,000 per applicant. The loans will be available to entrepreneurs in five categories: trades; qualification recognition; small-scale food production; business start-up; and winter production financing. The CFIB will be keeping in touch with its members to see if they are having problems accessing the program, and McGrath-Gaudet says the government has indicated it is open to feedback on how well the program is working, or not working, for applicants.

McGrath-Gaudet says the CFIB, which represents 900 members on the island, often talks to the provincial government about loans small businesses are looking for. She thinks this micro-loan program meets a pressing need for P.E.I.’s entrepreneurs. “It’s a challenge for them to find financing from traditional sources,” she says. “A lot of banks aren’t interested in small businesses and access to venture capital for small businesses in Atlantic Canada does tend to be slim.”