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Banking
Studies: Small Business Lending in the U.S. The
Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy annually analyzes call report data collected by the Federal Reserve on the lending activity of about 8,500 individual reporting commercial banks. Banks are ranked based on their small business lending on a state-by-state basis.
The Office of Advocacy has posted reports online from 1994.
These reports provide a great research tool for selecting banks in
your local area to approach for a loan.
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Catalog
of Federal Domestic Assistance. This online resource
provides information about Federal grants and other types of
assistance. Note that although there are a few programs
targeted directly at individuals and small businesses, most direct
funding to state and local governments or other institutions to
manage the distribution of assistance according to local
needs. On your first visit, make sure to read the "First
Time Users Guide" before moving on to other areas of this
website.
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Federal
Commons. As a general rule, the federal government
offers no grant funding for business start-ups. However,
project-specific grant funding may be available to meet
business-related goals in which the government has a public policy
interest. The Federal Commons website serves as a
centralized portal for public information about government
grants. Plans for the future include facilitating online
grant processing services for the grantee community.
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Money
for a Small Business. This informative feature
hosted by About.com provides a useful introduction to the process
of getting financial assistance from the government to help your
business grow. The feature is divided into four sections as
follows: (1) Free Help With Planning a Small Business; (2) SBA loan programs - A Quick Guide; (3) Business Size Limitations; and (4) Handy links to information and assistance from the SBA.
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SBA
- Financing Your Business. The SBA enables its lending partners to provide financing to small businesses when funding is otherwise unavailable on reasonable terms. When a small business applies to a lending partner for a loan, the lender reviews the application and decides if it merits a loan on its own or if it requires additional support in the form of an SBA guaranty. Note that the SBA does not have funding for direct loans to small businesses, nor does it provide grants for business start-up or expansion.
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SBA Certified Lender and Preferred Lender
Program. Certified
and preferred lenders receive special authority from the SBA to expedite
the processing of small business loans. Certified lenders tend to
rate highly in their history of lending to small businesses, and act
under SBA supervision to review the necessary paperwork for loan
approvals.
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U.S.
Business
Advisor - Financial Assistance Page. The U.S. Business Advisor was created by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR). Its goal is to help U.S. businesses gain access to information and services from the government. Visit the Business Advisor's "Financial Assistance" web page for information about SBA Loan Guarantees, Equity Financing, Disaster Loans, Trade Financing, Industry Finance Resources, and Surety Bond Guarantees.
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