Fund your Arkansas business

When your own money isn’t enough, start with a no-cost advisor, then ask which program actually lends. The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center¹ does not have money to lend. The state’s revolving loan guaranty sits behind a bank. Regular SBA loans come from a lender.

What’s different in Arkansas

• One-on-one advising is at no charge. The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center offers one-to-one confidential consulting and market research at no charge, for for-profit businesses¹. The center does not provide loans or grants².
• The state guarantee needs a bank first. The bank approves the loan first, then sends the application to ADFA³. It is not a loan the state writes to you on its own.
• The development finance programs are not grants. The state’s funding-partners page says so in one sentence.
• One SBA office covers the whole state. Little Rock serves the entire state. Visits are Appointment only⁵.

Do this

1. Write down what you need and what it’s for. Equipment, inventory, a building and day-to-day cash are different asks. The revolving loan guaranty is for a loan a bank is willing to make, up to $500,000, with a state guarantee of not more than $250,000³.
2. Book no-cost advising. The ASBTDC home page says the one-to-one consulting and market research are at no charge, for for-profit businesses from home-based to high-tech. Most services are available at no cost², the FAQ says, and the center can help you prepare what a lender asks for. It also says the center is not the one who decides the loan. Classes and other events are educational events the center describes as affordable¹. The page does not print a price for those events.* Ask the center what a class costs before you sign up.
3. Use the SBA office for your address. The Arkansas District Office in Little Rock offers funding programs, counseling, federal contracting certifications, and disaster recovery for the entire state. It is Appointment only⁵. The street address and phone are on the district page.
4. Understand who lends the regular SBA loans. 7(a) and the other ordinary SBA loans come from participating lenders, not the SBA. The ASBTDC FAQ says the SBA does not provide grants to small businesses. Except for disaster loans, the SBA does not provide direct loans². The SBA loans guide explains who makes each kind.
5. Read the guaranty before you assume the state will lend. The revolving loan guaranty guarantees 10 percent to 50 percent of a loan a financial institution makes: up to 50 percent, and not more than 250,000 dollars, on a loan of not more than 500,000 dollars. The guarantee costs 2 percent, due at closing, and it can be included in the borrower's closing costs. The bank approves the loan first, then sends the application to ADFA³. The lender provides the money. ADFA guarantees part of it after the bank has approved. Read the program page before you apply. The page does not say every new business qualifies.
6. Read the grant question the same way. The funding partners page says ADFA's Development Finance Division does not offer grants under any of its programs. The ASBTDC and the SBA say they do not provide grants to small businesses either. The same partners page describes the Arkansas Venture Capital Development Fund as matching investments in Arkansas technology companies that are already seeking private equity⁴. That is an investment, for a technology company already talking to investors. It is not startup cash for every new business. Be wary of anyone selling access to a guaranteed grant.
7. A private lender is listed on that page too. The Arkansas Capital Corporation is a privately owned nonprofit, not a state agency. Its loans start at $100,000⁴, for existing operations and for startups, and they can sit beside a bank loan. That minimum is the figure the page prints. It is not a state grant, and it is not a fit for a smaller ask.
8. Keep your paperwork ready. Lenders and advisors ask for your formation documents and EIN. The revolving loan guaranty also wants the bank’s approval in the package: Register your business and Get your tax IDs.
9. After a declared disaster, the SBA can lend directly. Disaster assistance covers several kinds of loan, including physical damage, economic injury and military reservist economic injury, for a declared disaster, and only if you qualify⁶. A disaster by itself does not qualify you. Check the declaration and the loan type before you apply.

What you get back

An appointment with an advisor, and help preparing what a lender asks for. A loan decision comes only if you qualify, from a bank on the guaranty or from a lender on an SBA-backed loan. These pages do not promise a finished plan or an approval.