Fund your Maryland business

When your own money is not enough, start with an advisor, then read which program actually lends. On some Maryland programs the state is the lender. On others a bank or a fund manager is. Regular SBA loans come from a lender. A grant on the Commerce list is not a check for every opening day.

What’s different in Maryland

• Two places to start, and one-on-one advising is free. The SBDC’s consulting page describes no-cost confidential consulting for prospective and existing small business owners². SCORE mentors are free too. Classes are priced separately.
• Two SBA offices split the state. Baltimore covers every county except Montgomery and Prince George’s. Those two counties use the Washington office.
• Commerce can be the lender. MSBDFA says Commerce provides the financing. The Economic Adjustment Fund is a direct Commerce loan. The long-term guaranty still starts at a bank.
• The named grants are narrow. They pay for export marketing, training, manufacturing equipment, innovation infrastructure, college research, or promotion. Several application windows are closed.
• One no-interest startup loan is not open to every founder. New Start is $50,000⁹, and only by referral.

Do this

1. Write down what you need and what it is for. Equipment, inventory, a contract, and a line of credit are different asks. MSBDFA financing may be used for working capital, supplies, machinery and equipment, real estate, leasehold improvements, buying an existing business, and financing contracts. It can also help with bid, payment, performance, and surety bonds⁸.
2. Book advising before you apply. The Maryland SBDC offers free individualized consulting, from a startup through an established business. Its consulting page describes no-cost confidential consulting for prospective and existing small business owners². Classes are priced separately: the SBDC says most classes are low-cost or no-cost¹.* Ask what a class costs before you sign up. The SBDC does not lend. Business Express also points to free advice from SCORE mentors, in person at one of 8 Maryland chapters, by email, or in an online workshop³. What you get from either place is an appointment and help preparing what a lender asks for, not an approved loan.
3. Use the SBA office that covers your county. The Baltimore District Office covers Baltimore City and every Maryland county except Montgomery and Prince George's⁴. The Washington Metropolitan Area District Office covers Montgomery and Prince George's counties⁵.
4. Understand who lends the regular SBA loans. On the SBA loans page, 7(a) loans are delivered by SBA 7(a) lenders and microloans are provided by intermediary lenders⁶. The SBA loans guide explains who makes each kind.
5. Read MSBDFA before you assume every state dollar sits at a bank. MSBDFA is a state program. The Maryland Department of Commerce provides the financing. Meridian Management Group runs the program day to day. The long-term piece is a loan guaranty, and sometimes an interest subsidy, so a business can get financing from a bank. Other pieces are contract financing, surety bonds, and equity, including buying a business or a franchise. The page does not print a dollar cap.* It says the DECADE Act changed the financing limits on July 1, 2026. Confirm the current terms with Meridian Management Group before you apply. SSBCI money is limited and can be awarded until it is gone. MSBDFA's share is described as $45 million of a state allocation of up to $198 million⁸. There is no online application. You contact Meridian. Free technical help for the SSBCI piece is through the SBDC, linked from that page.
6. Use the Economic Adjustment Fund when a traditional lender has already said no. MEAF is for a Maryland business with fewer than 50 employees that cannot get a loan from a traditional lender. Collateral is required. Commerce sets the interest rate in the review. The maximum is $150,000¹⁰. Uses include working capital, equipment, building renovation, real estate, and site improvements. You email Commerce for the application and for a personal financial statement the page says is not published online. Commerce reviews it like a commercial credit. Submitting an application is not an approval.
7. Use New Start only if you are in the group it names. The New Start Microloan is $50,000 at no interest, with no application fee, no prepayment penalty, and no collateral requirement. Eligibility: only a covered person who was justice-involved, and only if an entrepreneurship program that holds a New Start grant refers them. You cannot apply to Commerce on your own⁹. The proceeds have to be used to start a business in Maryland. The program page lists the referring programs and says that list changes. Check it before you assume your county has one.
8. For a small, minority, or women-owned business, the video-lottery account is a fund manager’s loan. Fund managers lend to small, minority, and women-owned businesses. Commerce does not lend and does not take the application. At least half of the money goes to businesses near the six casinos¹¹. Loan size, rate, and use depend on the fund manager. The page says some lend under the New Start amount and some lend more. Contact the manager for your area.
9. Read the grant list before you treat it as startup cash. Commerce’s grants index says these grants pay for specific work such as exporting, workforce training, manufacturing, and industry growth. Most have eligibility rules and an application window¹². They are not cash for every new business. Be wary of anyone selling access to a guaranteed grant. The programs it names:
   • ExportMD is active. It pays a Maryland small business back for international marketing it has already spent, up to $5,000¹⁴.
   • Global Gateway is active, and both tracks are taking applications. It is a soft landing for a foreign company testing the U.S., or a Maryland company testing a market abroad¹⁵.
   • The E-Nnovation Initiative is a state match for private funds that endow a chair at a Maryland college. The money goes to the institution's research, not to a new business¹⁶.
   • The Alcohol Manufacturing and Promotion Fund pays a nonprofit or a state or local government, to promote Maryland breweries, distilleries, and wineries. The producers do not apply, and a for-profit business cannot. The deadline for the 2027 cycle, which opened in September 2026, was October 13, 2026¹⁷. That date has passed. The page says the forms are updated each year.
   • Maryland MADE is closed. The program ended on September 30, 2026. It had been a grant to small manufacturers for energy-saving equipment¹⁸.
   • Manufacturing 4.0 offers from $25,000 to $500,000, with a match that depends on the size of the business. The last window closed August 31, 2026, and the next one to watch for is August 2, 2027. Twenty percent of the funds are reserved for manufacturers with 3 to 50 employees¹⁹.
   • Partnership for Workforce Quality is ongoing, on a rolling basis, with no online portal. It is a matching training grant, mainly for manufacturing and technology companies²⁰.
   • The winery and vineyard grant is 25% of qualified capital expenses. The program is active, and awards grants once a year to a new or existing Maryland winery or vineyard. Both posted deadlines have passed²¹. Confirm the current round before you apply.
   • Build Our Future is run by the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO), not by Commerce. It is a matching grant for infrastructure that supports innovation in strategic technology sectors, such as wet labs, cyber ranges, and prototype manufacturing centers. It pays private companies, nonprofits, local governments, and colleges and universities in Maryland, up to $2,000,000 per entity per fiscal year. The money covers hard costs such as real property, buildings, machinery and equipment, and leasehold improvements. It does not cover operating expenses, consulting fees, or salaries. The grantee puts up a match of at least 200% of the grant for an award up to $1,000,000, and at least 400% for a larger award. Other state grants and in-kind contributions do not count toward the match. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through MEDCO's online portal. The program is authorized through June 30, 2030¹³.
10. Keep your paperwork ready. Lenders and Commerce ask for formation documents and an EIN. Register your business and Get your tax IDs are the Maryland versions.
11. After a declared disaster, the SBA can lend directly. Disaster assistance covers several kinds of loan the SBA makes itself after a declared disaster, including physical damage, economic injury, and military reservist economic injury, and only if you qualify⁷. 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 Commerce on MSBDFA, MEAF, or New Start, from a fund manager on the video-lottery account, or from a lender on a guaranteed bank loan or a regular SBA loan. A grant decision comes only if you are in a program the page actually funds, and only while its window is open. These pages do not promise a finished plan or an approval.