Small Business Assistance The U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is the federal agency with the mission of aiding, counseling, assisting and protecting the interests of the nation¡¦s small businesses and of helping small businesses recover from national disasters. The SBA offers a number of financial assistance, training, counseling, and disaster assistance recovery programs that have been specifically designed to meet a business¡¦s key financing needs including the need for debt financing (loans), equity financing (investment/seed money), and surety bonds. (SBA does not provide grant funds to finance small businesses). (www.sba.gov) Eligibility: Credit Factors To determine if you qualify for SBA's financial assistance, you should first understand some basic credit factors that apply to all loan requests. Every application needs positive credit merits to be approved. These are the same credit factors a lender will review and analyze before deciding whether to internally approve your loan application, seek a guaranty from SBA to support their loan to you, or decline your application all together. Basic Requirements Even though the SBA-qualifying standards are more flexible than other types of loans, lenders will generally ask for certain information before deciding to use an SBA loan program. Generally, a business will need the following documentation to evaluate your loan request: Business profile. A document describing type of business, annual sales, number of employees, length of time in business and ownership. Loan request. A description of how loan funds will be used. Should include purpose, amount and type of loan. Collateral. Description of collateral offered to secure the loan, including equity in the business, borrowed funds and available cash. Business financial statements. Complete financial statements for the past three years and current interim financial statements. Personal financial statements. Statements of owners, partners, officers and stockholders owning 20% or more of the business. Debt Financing - SBA's Loan Programs: SBA does not make direct loans - it works with thousands of lenders and other intermediaries, which generally will make the loan with SBA guaranteeing the lender that the loan will be repaid. However, SBA guaranteed loans may not be made if the borrower has access to other financing on reasonable terms. Additional information on SBA loans, including credit and eligibility requirements, how to apply, etc., is available at the Apply for a Loan section of the site (www.sba.gov) Surety Bonds - SBA's Bonding Programs: The Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program was developed to provide small and minority contractors with contracting opportunities for which they would not otherwise bid. (SBA) can guarantee bonds for contracts up to $2 million, covering bid, performance and payment bonds for small and emerging contractors who cannot obtain surety bonds through regular commercial channels. SBA's guarantee gives sureties an incentive to provide bonding for eligible contractors, and thereby strengthens a contractor's ability to obtain bonding and greater access to contracting opportunities. A surety guarantee, an agreement between a surety and the SBA, provides that SBA will assume a predetermined percentage of loss in the event the contractor should breach the terms of the contract. Disaster Assistance - If you are a homeowner or renter, FEMA may refer you to SBA. SBA disaster loans are the primary source of money to pay for repair or replacement costs not fully covered by insurance or other compensation. SBA offers low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, non-profit organizations. Homeowners may borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary residence; homeowners and renters may borrow up to $40,000 to replace personal property. Businesses may borrow up to $2 million for any combination of property damage or economic injury. SBA offers low-interest working capital loans (called Economic Injury Disaster Loans) to small businesses and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes having difficulty meeting obligations as a result of the disaster. To obtain more information about disaster assistance, please visit our website (http://www.sba.gov/hurricanes/index.html) or call (800) 659-2955. Agency: Small Business Administration (SBA) Telephone: (504) 589-6685 Web: http://www.sba.gov Last Updated: Sep 22, 2009 Click the tab to get listed to request that new information be added to the guide. To report an inaccuracy, or to request more information, please send us feedback.