Loan Program

City of Annapolis plans symposium The city of Annapolis will hold its second annual Small and Minority Business Enterprise Symposium from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Governor Calvert House, 58 State Circle, Annapolis. Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will be the keynote speaker. Reservations are required. The cost is $25, payable by check to SMBE-City of Annapolis and mailed to 160 Duke of Gloucester St., Annapolis, 21401. Information: 410-263-7940. Workshop to focus on business plans SCORE Chapter 390 will hold a workshop, "Let's Prepare a Business Plan," from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Big Vanilla Athletic Club's community meeting room, 1209 Ritchie Highway, Arnold.

Kickbacks, conflicts of interest, multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlements, high-profile resignations and suspensions under a veil of shame - if only we could throw in an illicit affair. It's hard to believe we are talking about something as unsexy as student loans. Ninety percent of students who receive loans choose their lender based on their school's recommendation. In an age where students leave college with an average of more than $19,000 in loan debt, students should be able to count on their schools for impartial and helpful advice as they navigate a complicated and stressful process.

Congress stripped a major provision from recently passed student loan legislation that would have helped future graduates reduce their debt in exchange for commitments to lower-paying jobs in public service. The House of Representatives approved a maximum $5,000 in student loan forgiveness for graduates who choose careers in public health, public safety or foreign languages, such as working as a linguist at the Fort Meade-based National Security Agency. But last week, a conference committee cut the benefit.

The idea of politicians tinkering with billions of dollars in the student loan program can make anyone a bit wary. But this time they got it right, with students coming out the winner in legislation passed recently by Congress and to be signed by the president. The law will cut nearly $21 billion in government subsidies to lenders over the next five years. Almost all the money will be plowed back into grants for the poorest students, lower interest rates and loan forgiveness for those in careers that society values but nevertheless underpays.

As Westminster prepares to beef up its housing-code enforcement, the city has begun administering a loan program to help low-income residents fix up their homes.The Maryland Housing Rehabilitation Program is also administered by the county, but city officials wanted a stronger emphasis on the program. The city recently hired a full-time coordinator to handle the loans for Westminster residents."We have a lot of housing stock that's very old and it's tired. It's owned by people on fixed incomes and there are things they'd like to do but they can't afford it, but they don't want to move," said Ray Fleming, the city's rehabilitation coordinator at the Office of Housing and Community Development, which is running the program.

The president of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation abruptly resigned yesterday, as the agency is facing increasing pressure to make public a more detailed accounting of its operations.Richard J. Morgan handed his letter of resignation to County Executive Janet S. Owens during a brusque encounter at the groundbreaking for the Arundel Mills Mall -- a public event that didn't allow Owens the time or privacy to seek an explanation.For two years, Morgan has led the agency, a private corporation that receives public funds and is overseen by a board controlled by the county.

Fannie Mae, the nation's largest source of home mortgage funds, announced last week that it was providing $20 million to help finance Baltimore's Settlement Expense Loan Program (SELP).The announcement was made during groundbreaking for Spicer's Run, a Bolton Hill townhouse project that is being built on the former Eutaw Gardens Apartments site.The $13.3 million, 86-unit community, developed by Blair McDaniels LLC, also received an equity investment of $1 million from Fannie Mae's American Communities Fund.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening unveiled his proposal yesterday for a five-year, $10 million loan program that would aid small, minority and disadvantaged businesses that are more likely to be turned away by traditional lenders.The Maryland Competitive Advantage Loan Program would be available to small businesses owned by people of color and women, and white men who prove they are socially or economically disadvantaged, officials said."Even our best efforts to bring jobs and economic development to Maryland will be insufficient if we do not ensure that we include everyone in that growth," Glendening said at a breakfast meeting with minority and small-business owners in Northwest Baltimore.

A trendy and popular Fells Point bar has won a $100,000 loan from the city's federally funded empowerment zone program to help pay for an expansion that includes a cigar smoking lounge.The loan from a program designed to help blighted and decaying urban areas and increase employment is proper, city officials say.Jeffrey P. Pillas of the Baltimore Development Corp., which administers the loan program for Empower Baltimore Management Corp., said Max's on Broadway meets the standards for participation: It is located within the empowerment zone and the expansion has created six new jobs.

RESPONDING TO market prices and strong export demand, farmers in the Midwest and elsewhere are growing crops of their choice wherever they like. For the first time in decades, they have made the decisions about what to grow and what land to keep idle.Congress gave them those choices last year when it passed the Freedom to Farm bill, which phases out government subsidies on many crops. But lawmakers couldn't muster the will to reform the sugar program, leaving in place a system of import restrictions, price supports and subsidized loans that costs consumers millions of dollars a year in higher food prices.

Ten thousand interest-free loans are expected to be made to small businesses under a new federal program launched in June, but so far many banks aren't participating. Loans are trickling out with only a half-dozen made in Maryland. The goal of America's Recovery Capital loan program, part of the government's economic stimulus package, is to assist viable, but temporarily struggling, small businesses by offering them interest-free loans of up to $35,000 with lenient repayment terms. Banks started accepting applications for the government-backed loans June 15. The program runs through Sept.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Lacey Mogy didn't know much about student loans when she enrolled this year at the School of Communication Arts in Raleigh - except that she needed several if she was going to study digital film production. Then her mother received a letter telling her that one of those loans won't be renewed next year. The lender is getting out of the student loan market. Now Mogy is quickly learning about the link between the national credit crunch and the availability of student loans for fall.

If you must borrow for college, your best bet is a federal student loan. You don't need a credit check. The interest rate is low. Repayment plans are flexible. And, thanks to a new law, federal loan debt could be forgiven after a number of years if you work in certain needed fields. Problem is, more than 1 million community college students, or about 10 percent, don't have access to federal loans, according to a new report by the Project on Student Debt. The reason: Their schools won't participate in the federal Stafford loan program.

The idea of politicians tinkering with billions of dollars in the student loan program can make anyone a bit wary. But this time they got it right, with students coming out the winner in legislation passed recently by Congress and to be signed by the president. The law will cut nearly $21 billion in government subsidies to lenders over the next five years. Almost all the money will be plowed back into grants for the poorest students, lower interest rates and loan forgiveness for those in careers that society values but nevertheless underpays.

Congress stripped a major provision from recently passed student loan legislation that would have helped future graduates reduce their debt in exchange for commitments to lower-paying jobs in public service. The House of Representatives approved a maximum $5,000 in student loan forgiveness for graduates who choose careers in public health, public safety or foreign languages, such as working as a linguist at the Fort Meade-based National Security Agency. But last week, a conference committee cut the benefit.

Hannah Kain, a small-business owner in Fremont, Calif., started her packaging services business, ALOM Technologies, in 1997 with a $250,000 Small Business Administration loan. In 2000, her 70-employee company was singled out as an entrepreneurial success by the agency, complete with a ceremony in San Francisco. But in 2003, when she lost a government contract to package and distribute informational compact discs to military bases around the world, she didn't bother to turn to the SBA for help.

City of Annapolis plans symposium The city of Annapolis will hold its second annual Small and Minority Business Enterprise Symposium from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Governor Calvert House, 58 State Circle, Annapolis. Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will be the keynote speaker. Reservations are required. The cost is $25, payable by check to SMBE-City of Annapolis and mailed to 160 Duke of Gloucester St., Annapolis, 21401. Information: 410-263-7940. Workshop to focus on business plans SCORE Chapter 390 will hold a workshop, "Let's Prepare a Business Plan," from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Big Vanilla Athletic Club's community meeting room, 1209 Ritchie Highway, Arnold.

Kickbacks, conflicts of interest, multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlements, high-profile resignations and suspensions under a veil of shame - if only we could throw in an illicit affair. It's hard to believe we are talking about something as unsexy as student loans. Ninety percent of students who receive loans choose their lender based on their school's recommendation. In an age where students leave college with an average of more than $19,000 in loan debt, students should be able to count on their schools for impartial and helpful advice as they navigate a complicated and stressful process.

A small number of moderate-income Howard County homebuyers should benefit from a $255,275 state Community Legacy program revolving loan fund grant announced yesterday in North Laurel. The program would provide second mortgages worth up to $30,000 each for buyers of 10 new detached, single-family homes planned in Savage on land owned by the Howard County Housing Commission. The county bought land on Mary Lane for the planned Glens at Guilford development in 2002, but it has had to wait four years under Howard's development controls to get permission to build.

The variable interest rate on federal education loans is going up nearly 2 percentage points in July, which means students and parents have until then to consolidate loans to lock in current lower rates and potentially save thousands of dollars. Each July, the variable rate on federal loans is adjusted based on the three-month Treasury bill rate at the end of May. As of yesterday's T-bill auction, the variable rates on Stafford student loans and PLUS loans for parents will go up 1.84 percentage points in July.