Fund your Mississippi business

When your own money is not enough, start with an advisor, then read which program actually lends. The Mississippi SBDC does not lend and does not write a grant check. Some state programs lend to the business. Others sit beside a bank. Regular SBA loans also come from a lender.

What’s different in Mississippi

• One-on-one counseling is at no cost. The SBDC serves all 82 counties¹.
• One program lends up to $35,000² to designated minority-owned and women-owned businesses. That page calls it a loan, not a bank guaranty.
• The small business guaranty needs a lender. The guaranty goes to the bank, not to you.
• Two SBA offices cover the state. Jackson is the main office⁸. Gulfport covers the counties that office lists.

Do this

1. Write down what you need and what it is for. A micro loan, an enterprise loan, and a bank guaranty pay for different things. Read the program before you build the request around it.
2. Book counseling. The Mississippi SBDC offers confidential one-on-one business counseling at no cost. It serves all 82 counties. Some specialized workshops and training programs may have a nominal fee, and the FAQ does not give the amount.* Ask what a class costs before you sign up. The Mississippi SBDC Network and the SBA do not offer grants¹. Counselors can help you understand the options, write a plan, and walk through an application. That is the appointment. It is not an approval.
3. Use the SBA office for your county. The Mississippi District Office serves the entire state of Mississippi. It has offices in Jackson and Gulfport. Jackson is the main office. The Gulfport office’s own line says it serves Jones, Wayne, Lamar, Forrest, Perry, Greene, Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties. Use the office the page assigns to your county. The office offers funding programs, counseling, federal contracting certifications, and disaster recovery⁸.
4. Understand who lends the regular SBA loans. 7(a) loans are delivered by SBA 7(a) lenders. Microloans are provided by intermediary lenders⁹, up to $50,000¹¹. The SBA loans guide explains who makes each kind.
5. Read the micro loan if you are a designated minority-owned or women-owned business. The Development Authority’s loan page says the Minority Business Micro Loan Program provides loans to socially and economically disadvantaged minority-owned and women-owned businesses that the Mississippi Development Authority's Minority and Small Business Development Division designates. The maximum is $35,000². The program’s April 2015 sheet, linked from that page, says manufacturers, warehouses and distribution centers, and retail businesses may apply, and the loan can pay for inventory, working capital, and machinery and equipment. Planning and development districts, small business investment corporations, and community development corporations make these loans together with the Mississippi Development Authority. A loan runs for up to seven years at four percent above the Federal Reserve Discount Rate. The current page repeats only the maximum.* Confirm the rate and the term with the Development Authority's Financial Resources Division⁵ before you count on them.
6. Read the enterprise loan with the date on the sheet. The same office designates who can apply. The April 2015 sheet says the cap is 50% of the project or $250,000, whichever is less. The owner's personal net worth cannot exceed $500,000 after the home and the equity in the business are subtracted. Planning and development districts, small business investment corporations, and community development corporations make the loan together with the Mississippi Development Authority⁴. The current loan page does not repeat those figures.* Confirm the cap with the Development Authority's Financial Resources Division⁵. Manufacturers, warehouses, distribution, and retail are the businesses that sheet lists.
7. If you have a public contract and need money to perform it, read the capital access loan. The loan page says the program provides loans to businesses that have contracts with public entities and either have fewer than 50 full-time employees or are socially and economically disadvantaged under the U.S. Small Business Act². Its April 2015 sheet caps a loan at 75% of the contract or $75,000 and sets zero percent annual interest, with a limit of three loans per borrower. It says to apply through the Development Authority's Financial Resources Division⁶. The current page does not repeat the cap or the rate.* Confirm them before you apply.
8. A bank guaranty is not a state loan to you. The SSBCI page says the Small Business Loan Guaranty Program provides loan guaranties to banks and other small business lenders. It is not a check from the state to the business. The state allocated $15 million³ to it. An April 2015 program sheet, written for the program’s first federal funding, says the loan is at least $50,000 and at most $500,000 or 50% of the project, whichever is less, with a guaranty of up to 50% for working capital and lines of credit and up to 80% for fixed assets⁷. The current page does not repeat those figures.* Confirm the cap with the lender before you apply.
9. The CDFI fund does not lend to you directly. The Mississippi CDFI Small Business Loan Fund was allocated $45 million to lend to non-depository community development financial institutions, which then lend to small businesses and startups³. A community lender is the one that would make the loan to the business.
10. Read InvestMS only if you are raising equity. InvestMS for Startups will not be the lead investor. A lead investor has to be in the round. Larger deals can receive an SSBCI match of up to $1 million, and other deals a match of up to $500,000³. It is not a grant, and it is not startup cash for every new business.
11. Keep your paperwork ready. Lenders and advisors ask for your formation documents and EIN. Register your business and Get your tax IDs.
12. 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 qualify¹⁰. 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 the micro loan or the enterprise loan comes from the program or the local lender that makes it. A guaranty decision still starts at a bank. A regular SBA loan decision comes from a lender. An SBA decision comes from the SBA only on a disaster loan you qualify for. These pages do not promise a finished plan or an approval.