Financing Programs

Microloans

The Microloan Program was developed to increase the availability of loans under $25,000 to small business owners as general lending institutions have traditionally not mad such small loans. Under this program, the SBA makes funds available to nonprofit intermediaries, who in turn make loans to eligible borrowers in amounts that range from $100 to a maximum of $25,000.

Loan proceeds can be used for working capital; equipment; furniture and fixtures; inventory; and leasehold improvements. The proceeds can not be used to refinance existing debts.

The maximum term allowed on a micro-loan is six years. However, loan terms vary according to the size of the loan, the planned use of funds, the requirements of the intermediary lender, and the needs of the small business borrower. Interest rates vary, depending upon the intermediary lender. Rates are generally competitive. Completed applications are processed by the intermediary.

The following is a list of intermediaries in the Northern California area:

California Coastal Rural Development Corporation
221 Main St., Suite 300
P.O. Box 479
Salinas, CA 93906
Telephone: (831) 424-1099
Fax: (831) 424-1094
Service Area: Santa Clara County
http://www.calcostal.org

Lenders for Community Development
111 West St. John Street
Suite 710
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 297-8472 ext. 21
(408) 297-4599
Service Area: South Bay
http://www.l4cd.com

Oakland Business Development Corp.
519 17th Street, Suite 100
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 763-4297
Fax: (510) 763-1273
Service Area: Alameda and Contra Costa counties
http://www.obdc.org

Southeast Asian Community Center
875 O'Farrell Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
Telephone: (415) 885-2743
Fax (415) 885-3253
Service Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Merced, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Stanislaus counties
http://www.sea-cc.org/

For more information on our micro loan program please visit our web site
http://www.sba.gov/financing/frmicro.html

Pre-Qualification Loan Program

The Pre-Qualification Loan Programs provides creditworthy business owners with an opportunity to have their loan requests reviewed by the Small Business Administration prior to approaching a lender for financing of up to $250,000. This program is designed to provide substantive support and assistance in the loan application process to specific segments of the small business community that have been traditionally under-served by the lending community. These under-served groups have been identified as the following types of business owners: minorities, women, veterans, and exporters.

The applicant business must be 51% owned and operated by a woman, minority, veteran business owner or exporter. Additionally the business must have less than 100 employees and less than $5million in annual sales.

Qualified borrowers work directly with an authorized non-profit intermediary to prepare and submit a loan package to the SBA. Once SBA approves the financing request a commitment letter is issued to assuring its guarantee to a participating SBA lender. The applicant is then responsible for working with the intermediary to locate a lender to fund the loan, since the commitment letter does not automatically assure the borrower a loan. There is no fee for loan packaging done through a Small Business Development Center. However other authorized intermediaries charge a fee for this service.

The following is a list of local intermediaries.

Central Coast SBDC
Theresa Thomae, Director
6500 Soquel Drive
Aptos, CA 95003
(408) 479-6135
http://www.businessonline.org

Mission Economic Development Assoc.
Elayna Contreras, Sr. Business Consultant
2601 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 282-3334

Napa Small Business DC
Susan Jensen, Interim Director
1556 First Street, #103
Napa, CA 94559
(707) 253-3210
http://www.napasbdc.org/

North Coast SBDC
Fran Clark, Director
207 Price Mall #500
Crescent City, CA 95531
(707) 464-2168
fransbdc@northcoast.com

Oakland Business Development Corp.
Floyd Hicks, SBA Program Manager
519 17th Street, #100
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 763-4297 ext. 17
http://www.obdc.org

Redwood Empire SBDC
Christopher J. Facas, Director
520 Mendocino Ave., #210
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
(707) 524-1770
http://www.santarosa.edu/sbdc

San Francisco Renaissance
Gwendolyn Wright, Manager
275 5th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 541-8580
www.rencenter.org

Silicon Valley SBDC
Elza Minor, Director
298 So. Sunnyvale Ave., #204
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 736-0688
http://www.siliconvalley-sbdc.org/

Solano County SBDC
Charles Eason, Director
424 Executive Court No., #C
Suisun, CA 94585
(707) 864-3382
http://www.solanosbdc.org

South of Market Foundation
Sharon Birch, Director
965 Mission Street, #705
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 512-9676 ext. 11
http://www.somafoundation.org

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Updated: April 30, 2003