The popular Oregon Individual Development Account (IDA) program has been refreshed with $9 million in state funds, according to the Office of Gov. Kate Brown.

The program, which has been used by dozens of Wallowa County residents, allows individuals of modest means to begin a savings account toward education, purchasing a home, or business development that is matched 3 to 1 with state funds. For every dollar a program participant saves, the state puts in $3.

The long-term savings accounts have a $3,000 ceiling, but qualifying participants can walk away with up to $12,000 in savings to finally start their college degree, put a down-payment on a house, or purchase needed equipment for a small business.

To qualify, individuals must have yearly adjusted gross incomes less than $35,050 for an individual to $81,780 for a family of eight.

In 2014 more than 4,000 people participated: 43 percent saved for an education, 28 percent saved for a home and 23 percent saved to open a small business. The remaining 6 percent are saving to restore a home to a habitable condition or purchase equipment (sometimes disability aid equipment) to support employment.

In Wallowa County, several successful businesses were initially supported by IDA accounts.

“It’s changed lives,” said Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEOEDD) Outreach Specialist Kristy Athens. “We’ve had a bunch of Wallowa County residents finally able to put themselves through college and our business development savings course is always full.”

Education IDA participants must complete an education plan and business development participants must submit a business plan and attend a six-week course designed to give them all of the basic information they need to make sound decisions with regard to their business. As part of the preparation for business success, students are given a thumb drive set up with Excel spreadsheets that allow them to track their expenditures, calculate cost and profit, and project cash flow.

“The individuals in the business class are all-in on the process and so supportive of one another,” Athens said. “Half of the beauty of the program is practical, but the other half is empowerment. These are often individuals who haven’t been told they can succeed at business — and now they’re being supported to do just that. It’s pretty powerful stuff.”

NEOEDD, which serves three counties, reports that since the first Northeast Oregon participants enrolled in the IDA program in 2007: 106 new savings accounts have been created and maintained in good standing (84 of them for business IDAs); 59 business owners have completed business training and a business plan, saving $139,546 and leveraging an additional $418,638 in matching funds to invest in their businesses; 14 participants have saved $28,355, which was matched with nearly $85,065, for post-secondary education; one participant saved $3,000 for his business, which was matched with $9,000 — and when he became disabled, he converted from business to a home renovation IDA and was able to significantly improve the livability and value of his home; another participant saved $2,000 for job-related equipment and training, which was matched with $6,000; and 31 participants are currently enrolled in the IDA program and will save $83,140 and leverage nearly $240,420 to invest in their future.

Funds for the program come from the Oregon IDA Tax Credit, which allows anyone to support the program and receive a 75-percent credit on their state tax return.

For more information, contact Kristy Athens: kristyathens@neoedd.org or visit http://ida.neighborhoodpartnerships.org.