ELKHART COUNTY ― The county hopes to tap into millions of dollars in federal stimulus money that could help local businesses looking to expand.

“This actually is a program that buys down interest rates on bonds, and so we have a bonding capacity for these interest rates of about $45 million for private individuals ― private companies,” said Mike Yoder, county commissioner.

Yoder is a member of a new six-member Bond Advisory Committee. They met behind closed doors Tuesday morning with two interested companies ― both are hoping to tap into the stimulus funds.

“This advisory committee is reviewing two projects and will make a recommendation to county commissioners,” said Yoder. “There's actually a third proposal that has been made. We've already offered a certain amount of allocation to a company that's been looking to locate here.”

Any interested company could make use of existing buildings around the county, or build new ones. The bonds could also be a draw for new business.

“It gives us yet another tool to market Elkhart County,” said Dorinda Heiden-Guss, who is on the Bond Advisory Committee, “and what we look at is the investment. The number of jobs and the wages of the jobs tend to be the primary qualifications.”

Members of this newly formed commission say they have high hopes for the program, and say that as a new group there will be a little bit of a learning curve involved to take it forward.

“Its going to be our job to decide whether we want to support 3 or 4 larger projects, or 10 or 12 smaller projects,” said Randy Yohn, who is also on the committee.

In addition to the $45 million for private firms, the stimulus program will provide $30 million for local governments to use.