Gov't. Money for Your Company

7/28/2019 Gov't. Money for Your Company

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An Overview of Government Assistance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's)

by T.M.Hoy

There is a tremendous amount of aid available for small businesses from local, state, and federal government

agencies. Unfortunately, finding what's available can be time-consuming and difficult, and requires more than a

little patience to discover.

However, SBFO is looking out for you, and you'll find what you need right here.

For US state and local government programs, as well as links to every international economic development

agency, your best resource is the Economic Development Directory, (www.ecodevdirectory.com). This fantastic

site links you directly to the economic development agencies and programs in all 50 states, and economicdevelopment agencies in Europe, Asia, South and Central America, Africa, and Oceania.

This directory will assist you in finding local government money that municipal, county, and state governments

are making available to the public.

You can also find local funding on a federal website the search function (called the Loans and Grants search

tool) on the Small Business Administration website (www.sba.gov). There are many, many programs available

through the SBA, and even more programs from federal and other government agencies through links on that

site.

Here's an overview of the SBA programs (as of July, 2013):

7(A) Loan Guarantee Program: the program for small businesses borrowing up to $750,000; up to 85% of the

loan is guaranteed. It's obtained through local lenders, who apply to the SBA on your behalf.

CDC (Certified Development Company)504 Loan Program: this is longer-term fixed rate financing for

equipment, machinery, or real estate expansion and modernization. The borrower must provide 10% of the

loan amount, with the remainder funded by banks and CDC's funded by the SBA. The government guarantees

40% via CDC's, 50% by the bank's.
http://www.ecodevdirectory.com/http://www.sba.gov/http://www.sba.gov/http://www.ecodevdirectory.com/


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7(M) Microloan Program: the micro-loan program provides from $2,000 up to $35,000 for small businesses and

is closely related to two other programs; Community Advantage, and Community Express, both programs

designed to simplify the borrowing process for small business owners. This is supposed to be a "fast and

simple" loan guarantee process but as with all things governments, don't hold your breath.

Export Express: the SBA is picking up the slack where the Export Import Bank of the US has left off. This is

money for exporters, wishing to borrow up to $500,000, and is supposedly processed within 36 hours or less. It

is closely tied to the Export Working Capital program and International Trade Loan program -both new SBA

programs, though one wonders if Congress is merely attempting to fold the old Ex-Im lending programs into the

SBA. Large amounts are available, and if you're able to sell something abroad, you'd be well advised to look into

borrowing through these programs.

Small Loan Advantage: another small loan program closely allied with Community Advantage and Community

Express (from $25,000 - $250,000) loan programs. How difficult it is to obtain funding for these programs isunknown because they're so new, but due to the large volume of complaints about how recalcitrant the SBA

has been about funneling money to the business community, Congress may have poked them hard enough in

the butt to make them a bit quicker and less bureaucratic.

SBIC's (Small Business Investment Companies): these entities are licensed and regulated by the SBA, must have

fewer than 500 employees, a net worth of less than $18 million, and after-tax income of less than $6 million

during the most recent two years, and like Angel investors take an equity stake in the companies they invest in.

An SBIC directory of licensees exists on the SBA website listed state-by-state, though only a few companies exist

in each state.

SBIR's (Small Business Innovative Research): is a program with somewhat limited scope. It helps companies

transform laboratory research into products, if the companies are providing a product that is of interest to a

federal agency.

The SBA also offers programs such as a network of angel investors (please see the SBFO section on Angels), and

other "resource partners", such as the SBD Center, and SCORE, which offer free counseling and other kinds ofassistance.

The SBA also assists you with their National Lending Partners, a network of 20 major banks willing to loan to

small businesses, and the SBA Veterans Pledge Initiative, which is a consortium of 120 banks devoted to lending

to veterans.


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Most of these programs are described in detailed articles available as downloadable PDFs on the SBA website. If

you prefer to talk to a person, you can call the SBA Answer Desk at 1 800 827 5722 or 1- 800 U ASK

SBA, or e-mail them at [email protected].

A general search function and tool to assist small businesses with funds and programs available through the

federal government is that of Business USA, a new website designed to be a one-stop shop for small businesses

looking for government assistance. Their website iswww.business.usa.gov.

Another source of government funds are grants, though this is an entirely separate field in a way, as successful

grant writing is a valuable (and expensive) skill. It's worth checking out however: the government site devoted

to an overview of grants available is located at www.grants.gov.

A few other programs worthy of mention include the North American Development Bank's programs

(www.nadbank.org), which are limited to companies located within 62 miles of the Mexican border. Another

source of assistance for exporters is the US Export Import Bank, www.exim.gov., though it seems most of their

lending has been transferred to the SBA.

There are also some opportunities for providing goods and services to the federal government. It is free to

register as a contractor, and the website gives you everything you need to sign up and compete for government

contracts. There are several sites devoted to this; the Federal Contract Registry, at

www.federalcontractregistry.com, the Federal Business Access site, which is linked to the CCR and SAM (System

for Awards Management) site at www.sam.com . Those interested in pursuing this should be forewarned that it

is largely a boondoggle. You have to fill out half a dozen forms and register with several different sites before

you can even begin the process, and thereafter unless you match some category of government preference

(which includes minority business owners, those operating businesses in economically distressed areas, and the

like), your chances of succeeding in gaining government contracts is negligible. In the opinion of SBFO, don't

waste your time.

The great granddaddy of sources for all government programs, lending, and resources, however, is the Catalog

of Federal Domestic Assistance. You can download it for free at the CFDA website;www.cfda.gov. It is 3009

pages, and the 2012 print copy costs $80 from the Government Printing Office. You can call them at: 202 512

1800, or toll-free from 866 512 1800. It's worth checking out the GPO bookstore in any case and their

website ishttp://bookstore.gpo.gov.
http://www.business.usa.gov/http://www.business.usa.gov/http://www.grants.gov/http://www.grants.gov/http://www.nadbank.org/http://www.exim.gov/http://www.federalcontractregistry.com/http://www.sam.com/http://www.cfda.gov/http://www.cfda.gov/http://bookstore.gpo.gov/http://bookstore.gpo.gov/http://www.business.usa.gov/http://www.grants.gov/http://www.nadbank.org/http://www.exim.gov/http://www.federalcontractregistry.com/http://www.sam.com/http://www.cfda.gov/http://bookstore.gpo.gov/


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There are several ways of searching the CFDA, which lists 15 types of assistance, of which there are seven

financial types of assistance, and eight nonfinancial types. These are listed from A to O. A. Formula grants

(allocating money to states and government subdivisions), B. Project grants (funding of projects fellowships,

scholarships, research grants, training, technical assistance, construction grants, etc.), C. Direct payments for

specified use (this is financial assistance directly provided to individuals, private firms, and nonprofit institutions

to encourage or subsidize particular activities); E. Direct loans (financial assistance which is the lending of

monies for a set period of time, and may or may not require interest payments); F. Guaranteed/insured loans;

G. Insurance; H. Sales, exchanges, and donations of property and goods, I. The use of property, and equipment;

J.

There are 20 basic categories, and 176 subcategories. The CFDA covers agriculture; business and commerce,

personal development, consumer protection, disaster relief, education, energy, environmental quality, food and

nutrition, health, housing, income for Social Security, information and statistics, law, justice, and legal services,

natural resources, science and technology, and transportation.

It doesn't include contracts with the federal government, foreign activities, personnel recruitment, benefits to

federal employees, new programs established after the annual catalog was prepared, and inactive programs.

The easiest way to search the enormous document is to use the Applicant Eligibility Index. This is a listing of

every agency, and every program they offer in its simplest form, with marks next to the different categories of

eligibility for programs. These are limited to states, Native American Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations,

other government entities, and private individuals (including businesses).

There are four other ways to search the CFDA, but none are as quick and easy-to-use.

A brief overview of the program's is given below.

The Agriculture Department offers hundreds of programs for individuals, if your business has anything to do

with farming or rural areas.

The Department of Commerce also has many programs for individuals and businesses, including technical

assistance available through its Economic Development branch, a Research and Evaluation program, a program

for Fisheries, for Unallied Individual Projects, Unallied Management Projects, Congressionally Identified Awards

and Projects, and an Unallied Science Program.


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Another interesting one are the programs offered by the Department of Energy, which include 81.036

Inventions and Innovations, and 81.064 the Office of Science and Technical Information. The latter includes the

Advanced Research and Projects Agency Energy Financial Assistance Program. There are lots of very unusual

and no doubt profitable opportunities hidden within these categories.

Department of Education offers money for International Research and Study, Overseas Programs Special

Bilateral Projects, federal Pell grants, Javits fellowships, and federal direct student loans.

The little-known Christopher Columbus Fellowship foundation (which offers money to promote new discoveries

that benefit all mankind) include the Christopher Columbus awards, the life sciences awards, and Agriscience

awards.

The Department of Health and Human Services offers undergraduate scholarships for the underprivileged,

Research and Development for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Loan Repayment for Research, Drug

Abuse and Addiction Research Programs, Mental Health Research Programs, Biomedical Advanced R&D

Authority (BARDA), funds for Medicine and various kinds of Medical Research.

The Department of Homeland Security offers federal disaster help.

The National Credit Union Administration, and the SEC have programs and funds for lenders and investors.

Another hidden gem is the overseas Private Investment Corporation, particularly program number 70.001

70.999; they offer US investors assistance in financing payments and investing in developing countries. The

Agency for International Development also offers funds for these purposes.

The CFDA includes the addresses and numbers of all of these agencies, as a section on developing and writing

successful grant proposals, and offer sources of additional information. They offer a Federal Citizen information

Center (FCIC), at 800 688 9889; open from 9am-8pm ET.

Finally, this guide would not be complete without mentioning the Directory of Federal Laboratories and

Technical Resources, at www.federallabs.org, specializing in tech transfer from the government to private

citizens (basically, free R&D for companies). Along similar lines the US Department of Commerce offers its
http://www.federallabs.org/http://www.federallabs.org/


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National Technical Information Service, at 703 487 4650. The print copy costs $65 + $3 shipping and

handling.

Even better if you're interested in products that have not yet been created, is the Catalog of Government

Inventions Available for Licensing, available from a slightly different number at the National Technical

Information Service 703 487 4805, the print copy of which is $59 + $3 shipping and handling. This catalog

is filled with tens of thousands of inventions that are available for patenting by US citizens. It is an invaluable

resource, though it requires some technical understanding, and an eye for a good business opportunity. Also

available from the same department is the Catalog of Government Patents, similarly available to US citizens on

request. Their number is 703 487 4738.

An overview of the field for those interested in tech transfer is www.techtransfercentral.com, an excellent

directory of all government resources. Another source for government to business technical transfer is

www.energy.gov. Both are well worth a look.

Hope you found something useful in this overview of government aid to businesses and individuals. I'll be

updating this section periodically as new things become available. Enjoy !

For those viewing this on a document-sharing website, there are lots of sources to help you find money at my

website:

Please come and pay us a visit !
http://www.techtransfercentral.com/http://www.techtransfercentral.com/http://www.energy.gov/http://www.smallbusinessfinancingonline.com/page.htmlhttp://www.smallbusinessfinancingonline.com/page.htmlhttp://www.techtransfercentral.com/http://www.energy.gov/http://www.smallbusinessfinancingonline.com/page.html

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