Section 860.701 - Authorization(a) Establishment of account.-- (1) There is established an account within the fund which shall be administered by the department for the purpose of issuing loans under this chapter, upon application of an applicant for the the purposes of purchasing of specialized equipment or integrated systems for use by university and private entities, public-private partnerships and contracting authorities conducting or facilitating advanced manufacturing, and purchasing, constructing, renovating or rehabilitating facilities to be used in a shared infrastructure project.(2) Loans are authorized for the following purposes and in the following amounts: (i) Purchasing of specialized equipment or integrated systems for use in advanced manufacturing. The amount of a loan made for purchasing of specialized equipment integrated systems shall not exceed $200,000 for any single piece of equipment or 75% of the total cost of the piece of equipment, whichever is less.(ii) Purchasing, constructing, renovating or rehabilitating facilities to be used in a shared infrastructure project. The amount of a loan made for purchasing, constructing, renovating or rehabilitating facilities shall not exceed $100,000 for a single facility or 75% of the total cost for purchasing, renovating or rehabilitating the facility, whichever is less.(b) Terms of loans.--(1) Loans made by the department shall be for a period of not more than 15 years.(2) Loans shall be subject to the payment of interest at 2% per annum and shall be subject to such security as shall be determined by the department.(3) The total amount of the interest earned by the investment or reinvestment of all or any part of the principal of any loan shall be returned to the department, shall be transferred to the fund and shall not be credited as payment of principal or interest on the loan.(4) The minimum amount of any loan shall be $1,000.(c) Financial statement required.--An application for a loan under this chapter shall be accompanied by:(1) A financial statement of the applicant and a financial plan to show how the loan will be repaid.(2) Evidence sufficient to show that all costs, except the amount of the loan, will be met by assets or other revenues, grants or loans from other sources or in-kind contributions or services.(d)Use of loans.--Loans under this chapter shall be used for purchasing specialized equipment or integrated systems and for purchasing, constructing, renovating or rehabilitating facilities for the conduct of advanced manufacturing and may not be used for operating expenses or for the refinancing or reduction of any debt or obligation incurred prior to the effective date of this section.(e)Repayment of loans to be deposited in fund.--Payments of principal and interest on the loans shall be deposited by the department in the fund.(f)Local hire.--A recipient shall make a good faith effort to recruit and employ, or to encourage any construction contractors or subcontractors to recruit and employ, workers from the local labor market for employment for all construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration and repair work, other than maintenance work.Added by P.L. (number not assigned at time of publication) 2024 No. 24,§ 701, eff. 6/13/2024.