Fund your Connecticut business

When your own money is not enough, start with a no-cost advisor, then read which program actually lends and who can apply. Regular SBA loans come from a lender. The Connecticut programs below do too.

What’s different in Connecticut

• One-on-one advising is no-cost. Training and other resources may have a nominal fee¹.
• The Boost Fund is a community-lender loan, from $5,000 to $500,000³, and a brand-new business is not the main applicant.
• The CT Opportunity Fund is also a loan, administered by a lender, with a rate cap and an eligibility list.
• The state’s grant page is a list of partner programs, each with a cap, a region or a priority group, and often a requirement that you take the program’s advising. None of them is a check for opening day for every reader.
• One SBA office covers the whole state, from two cities split by county.

Do this

1. Write down what you need and what it is for. Equipment, payroll, rent and a building renovation are different asks. The Boost Fund says the money can be used for those kinds of costs, and the loan is not forgivable.
2. Book no-cost advising. The Connecticut SBDC FAQ says it offers no-cost advising for people starting a business and for current owners. Training and other resources may have a nominal fee. The SBDC does not lend or give grants. The advisors can help you sort a loan application. They do not approve it. Grants to start a business are generally rare¹. The FAQ names a possible exception for some high-technology or defense-related products, and for some nonprofits. It does not name a grant you can apply for today.
3. Use the SBA office for your county. The Connecticut District Office offers funding programs, counseling, federal contracting certifications, and disaster recovery for the entire state, from offices in Hartford and Bridgeport. The main office in Hartford serves Hartford, Tolland, Windham, Litchfield, and New London counties. The Bridgeport office serves New Haven, Fairfield, and Middlesex counties⁶.
4. Understand who lends the regular SBA loans. 7(a) and the other ordinary SBA loans come from participating lenders, not the SBA. The SBA loans guide explains who makes each kind.
5. Read the Boost Fund before you treat it as startup cash. The program site the state links says you borrow $5,000 to $500,000, at 4.5%, subject to eligibility. Repayment is 60 months when the loan is under 150,000 dollars, or 72 months when the loan is over 150,000 dollars. The loans come from local community lenders, not the state. They are not forgivable, and not guaranteed by the state. You need operations in Connecticut, no more than 100 full-time employees, and annual revenue up to 15 million dollars, and a business over 8 million dollars must use at least 75 percent of the proceeds on fixed assets. The business must have been in operation for at least 1 year, with a small amount of financing available for a startup. The page does not say how much that startup portion is.* Not every applicant receives a loan. Rates and terms may change³. The state page describes the same loan and points here for the rules.
6. Read the CT Opportunity Fund the same way. DECD’s page says loans run from $10,000 to $500,000, with interest capped at 4% and terms up to 10 years. It is for an owner or a business that meets at least one of these: a business that operates, or an owner who lives, in a concentrated-poverty census tract; an owner at or below the HUD adjusted median household income; or a first-time owner or a business that cannot get a traditional bank loan. The page lists a priority order, starting with businesses in concentrated-poverty census tracts. The fund is administered by HEDCO, a Connecticut lender. The page says program details and application information will be posted as the fund launches⁴, and it does not say whether the fund is taking applications yet.* Ask HEDCO before you apply.
7. Open the grant list and read who each one pays. The small-business page is a list of partner programs, not one statewide startup grant. The Black Business Alliance program offers about 20 grants a year of up to $15,000, for a for-profit business registered and operating in Connecticut and in good standing with DRS, or on a payment plan, and the recipient has to work with the program's advisors. Priority goes to minority-owned, women-owned, disabled-owned, and veteran-owned businesses, and to businesses in distressed municipalities. The HEDCO and Spanish American Merchants Association program caps each grant at $30,000, for a for-profit business with no more than 25 employees, in good standing with DRS. Uses are working capital, and hiring lawyers, accountants, and other providers in the program's network. There is a closing fee of $250 on the smaller grants and $500⁵ on a grant up to the cap. The page states which size pays which fee. Priority includes LGBTQ-owned businesses as well as the groups named for the other program. The same page lists more programs, several of them limited to a region such as greater Hartford, Middlesex County or southeastern Connecticut, with their own caps. It does not say which application windows are open today.* Read the program you fit before you apply. Be wary of anyone selling access to a guaranteed grant.
8. Keep your paperwork ready. Lenders and advisors ask for your formation documents and EIN. Several of the grants want good standing with the Department of Revenue Services: Register your business and Get your tax IDs.
9. After a declared disaster, the SBA can lend directly. Disaster assistance covers low-interest loans after a declared disaster, including physical damage loans and economic injury loans, and only if you qualify. A drop in sales or lost expected profits is not, by itself, the economic injury the injury loan requires⁷. 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 or a grant decision comes only if you qualify and the program still has money. These pages do not promise a finished plan or an approval.