Fund your Kansas business

When your own money is not enough, start with an advisor, then read which program actually lends. The Kansas SBDC does not print a promise of a loan. Network Kansas matching loans sit beside other money. Regular SBA loans also come from a lender.

What’s different in Kansas

• Advising is mostly no cost. The majority of SBDC services come at no cost¹. Signing up is free.
• The loan programs are not one cap. The loans page says amounts can be up to $1 million³. The eCommunity page says $50,000⁵. The June 2026 guide prints other maximums. Details are below.
• Two SBA offices split the state. Wichita covers central and western Kansas. Kansas City covers the easternmost counties, and that office sits in Missouri.
• A closed Network Kansas loan has fees taken out of the proceeds. The origination fee is not zero.

Do this

1. Write down what you need and what it is for. The eCommunity page allows land, real estate, inventory, equipment, buying a business, and working capital. It does not allow paying off debt, an owner's pay, payroll taxes, or renovations that are not tied to a specific business⁵. Other programs on the quick guide have their own uses. Read the column for the program before you apply.
2. Book advising. The Kansas SBDC’s advising page offers low- and no-cost advising². The majority of SBDC services come at no cost. Signing up as a client is confidential and free. Set an appointment. Advisors offer help finding loans and grants, plus a business plan and financial projections¹. Neither the advising page nor the FAQ prices workshops.* Ask what a class costs before you sign up.
3. Use the SBA office for your county. The Wichita District Office in Wichita serves 77 counties in central and western Kansas. The Kansas City District Office in Kansas City, Missouri serves the easternmost 28⁷ counties in Kansas, and counties in western Missouri. Both offices offer funding programs, counseling, federal contracting certifications, and disaster recovery⁶. Each page lists the counties. If your county is on the Kansas City list, use that office.
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 Network Kansas before you assume the state will lend the whole amount. The loans page says you apply through an approved Network Kansas partner. If you do not have a partner yet, the page says to contact the Impact Investing Center. Amounts can be up to $1 million, with terms of one to ten years, depending on the loan program. Applications are reviewed twice a month, and funds typically arrive within 10 business days after closing documents are done. The eCommunity review timeline is set by the local financial review board³.
6. Read the June 2026 quick guide for the program caps and the fees. That guide prints maximums of $52,000, $100,000, and $150,000, and one column that varies by program. The columns are eCommunity, the Kansas Community Investment Fund, the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative, the EDA revolving loan fund, and GrowKS. For GrowKS, a bank loan has to be in place for the project. For the EDA fund, a denial letter from other lenders is needed if a bank is not involved. On loans that close, Network Kansas charges 1 percent of the loan, at least $500 and at most $3,000, plus a $399 documentation fee, taken from the loan at closing⁴. The guide also lists a credit-pull fee and filing fees, taken from the loan at closing. The loans page’s $1 million³ ceiling is not one of the numbers printed in that table.* Read the column for the program you are using, and ask the partner which cap applies.
7. Read the eCommunity page if you are in one of those communities. The fund provides matching loans to for-profit small businesses in a defined eCommunity. The maximum on that page is $50,000. The match can be up to 150% of the other public or private money. The page says the first stop should be a bank. If the bank can fund the whole project, the page says it should. The quick guide’s eCommunity column prints $52,000⁴.* Use the page that matches the application you submit. Rates on the eCommunity page start at 4% for loans of 1 to 5 years and 6%⁵ for loans of 6 to 10 years. No eCommunity loan on that page runs longer than 10 years.
8. Keep your paperwork ready. Lenders and advisors ask for your formation documents and EIN. 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, after a declared disaster, and only if you qualify. Economic injury loans are for small businesses the SBA decides cannot get credit elsewhere⁸. 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 on a Network Kansas program comes from that program’s review, not from the fact that you asked. A regular SBA loan decision comes from the lender. An SBA disaster loan decision comes from the SBA, and only if you qualify. These pages do not promise a finished plan or an approval.