Are you a small business owner struggling due to lack of capital resources? Good news! You may be able to qualify for a SBA loan. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is committed to expanding access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs in underserved communities to help drive economic growth and job creation. In line with that, SBA rolled out two new initiatives aimed at increasing the number of loans in these communities—Community Advantage and Small Loan Advantage.
Community Advantage is a pilot loan program introduced by the SBA to meet the credit, management, and technical assistance needs of small businesses in underserved markets. Community Advantage lenders will be expected to maintain at least 60 percent of their SBA loan portfolio in underserved markets, including loans to small businesses in, or that have more than 50 percent of their workforce residing in, low-to-moderate income communities; start-ups (firms in business less than 2 years); and veteran-owned businesses.
One of the initiatives SBA rolled out aimed at increasing the number of lower-dollar loans in the underserved communities is called the Small Loan Advantage Program. This initiative allows lenders to get a pre-qualification indication from SBA that the applicant business has sufficient creditworthiness to warrant giving the applicant full consideration for financing.
SBA and the U.S. Department of Commerce studies show the importance of lower dollar loans to small business formation and growth in underserved communities. Both offer a streamlined application process for SBA7(a) loans up to $250,000 for Community Advantage and $350,000 for Small Loan Advantage.
To see what institutions are on the Community Advantage Approved Lenders list, go to http://www.sba.gov/content/community-advantage-approved-lenders.
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