[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 15]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR4279.155]

[Page 579-580]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
  CHAPTER XLII--RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE AND RURAL UTILITIES 
                   SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 4279_GUARANTEED LOANMAKING--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart B_Business and Industry Loans
 
Sec. 4279.155  Loan priorities.

    Applications and preapplications received by the Agency will be 
considered in the order received; however, for the purpose of assigning 
priorities as described in paragraph (b) of this section, the Agency 
will compare an application to other pending applications.
    (a) When applications on hand otherwise have equal priority, 
applications for loans from qualified veterans will have preference.
    (b) Priorities will be assigned by the Agency to eligible 
applications on the basis of a point system as contained in this 
section. The application and supporting information will be used to 
determine an eligible proposed project's priority for available 
guarantee authority. All lenders, including CLP lenders, will consider 
Agency priorities when choosing projects for guarantee. The lender will 
provide necessary information related to determining the score, as 
requested.
    (1) Population priority. Projects located in an unincorporated area 
or in a city with under 25,000 population (10 points).
    (2) Community priority. The priority score for community will be the 
total score for the following categories:
    (i) Located in an eligible area of long term population decline and 
job deterioration based on reliable statistical data (5 points).
    (ii) Located in a rural community that has remained persistently 
poor over the last 60 years (5 points).
    (iii) Located in a rural community that is experiencing trauma as a 
result of natural disaster or experiencing fundamental structural 
changes in its economic base (5 points).
    (iv) Located in a city or county with an unemployment rate 125 
percent of the statewide rate or greater (5 points).
    (3) Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community (EZ/EC). (i) Located in an 
EZ/EC designated area (10 points).
    (ii) Located in a designated Champion Community (5 points). A 
Champion Community is a community which developed a strategic plan to 
apply for an EZ/EC designation, but not selected as a designated EZ/EC 
Community.
    (4) Loan features. The priority score for loan features will be the 
total score for the following categories:
    (i) Lender will price the loan at the Wall Street Journal published 
Prime Rate plus 1.5 percent or less (5 points).
    (ii) Lender will price the loan at the Wall Street Journal published 
Prime Rate plus 1 percent or less (5 points).
    (iii) The Agency guaranteed loan is less than 50 percent of project 
cost (5 points).
    (iv) Percentage of guarantee is 10 or more percentage points less 
than the maximum allowable for a loan of its size (5 points).
    (5) High impact business investment priorities. The priority score 
for high impact business investment will be the

[[Page 580]]

total score for the following three categories:
    (i) Industry. The priority score for industry will be the total 
score for the following, except that the total score for industry cannot 
exceed 10 points.
    (A) Industry that has 20 percent or more of its sales in 
international markets (5 points).
    (B) Industry that is not already present in the community (5 
points).
    (ii) Business. The priority score for business will be the total 
score for the following:
    (A) Business that offers high value, specialized products and 
services that command high prices (2 points).
    (B) Business that provides an additional market for existing local 
business (3 points).
    (C) Business that is locally owned and managed (3 points).
    (D) Business that will produce a natural resource value-added 
product (2 points).
    (iii) Occupations. The priority score for occupations will be the 
total score for the following, except that the total score for job 
quality cannot exceed 10 points:
    (A) Business that creates jobs with an average wage exceeding 125 
percent of the Federal minimum wage (5 points).
    (B) Business that creates jobs with an average wage exceeding 150 
percent of the Federal minimum wage (10 points).
    (6) Administrative points. The State Director may assign up to 10 
additional points to an application to account for such factors as 
statewide distribution of funds, natural or economic emergency 
conditions, or area economic development strategies. An explanation of 
the assigning of these points by the State Director will be appended to 
the calculation of the project score maintained in the case file. If an 
application is considered in the National Office, the Administrator may 
also assign up to an additional 10 points. The Administrator may assign 
the additional points to an application to account for items such as 
geographic distribution of funds and emergency conditions caused by 
economic problems or natural disasters.