Connecticut Credit Consortium. Small business assistance account

(a) As used in this section, “qualified business” means a Connecticut business, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, employing less than one hundred employees. (b) The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall establish the Connecticut Credit Consortium, which shall be a small business assistance revolving loan program to provide direct loans and lines of credit to qualified businesses. The commissioner shall establish eligibility criteria and guidelines for the program. (c) As part of the program established pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the commissioner may make, or cause to be made, direct loans or lines of credit to any qualified businesses, provided the cumulative total of outstanding loans and lines of credit (1) to any business at any time shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars, and (2) to all businesses at any time shall not exceed fifteen million dollars. (d) There is established an account to be known as the “small business assistance account”, which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account. The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account. All moneys received in consideration of financial assistance, including payments of principal and interest on any loans, shall be credited to the account. Moneys in the account shall be expended by the Department of Economic and Community Development for the purposes of the small business assistance program established pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. (e) Loans and lines of credit provided pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall be exempt from the provisions of sections 32-5a and 32-222 to 32-234, inclusive.