Fund your Nevada business

When your own money is not enough, start with a no-cost advisor, then read which program actually lends. The state’s Battle Born Growth loans go through a bank, a credit union or a community lender. Regular SBA loans come from a lender too. Grants exist, but each one is narrow.

What’s different in Nevada

• One-on-one advising is free of charge. The Nevada SBDC offers advising that is free of charge to small business owners and people planning a small business¹.
• State-backed loans go through a lender. Loans of $250,000 to $5,000,000 go through a bank or credit union, and loans of $20,000 to $250,000² through a community lender (CDFI).
• Grants are narrow. The state’s grants page lists several programs, each with its own eligibility and window.
• Two SBA offices split the counties. Las Vegas serves Clark, Lincoln, Nye and Esmeralda counties. Carson City serves Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Washoe, White Pine and Storey counties, and Carson City⁵.

Do this

1. Write down what the money is for. Equipment, payroll, rent and inventory are different asks. Battle Born Growth’s bank program covers permanent equipment, machinery and inventory, owner-occupied commercial real estate, and receivables lines of credit, and business acquisitions are not eligible².
2. Book advising. The Nevada SBDC advising page says the one-on-one advising is free of charge to small business owners and people planning a small business. The same page lists educational training seminars for small businesses¹ separately and does not price them.* Ask what a seminar costs before you sign up. For a business that is not licensed yet, the SBDC’s SSBCI page recommends seeing an SBDC advisor first about licenses and a business plan⁴.
3. Use the SBA office for your county. The Nevada District Office covers the entire state, from offices in Las Vegas and Carson City and offers funding programs, counseling, federal contracting certifications, and disaster recovery, and connections to lenders. Las Vegas: Clark, Lincoln, Nye and Esmeralda counties. Carson City: Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Washoe, White Pine and Storey counties, and Carson City⁵. Both offices are by appointment.
4. Understand who lends the regular SBA loans. The district office connects you to lenders. The SBA loans guide explains who makes each kind.
5. Know which state-backed loans need a bank and which go through a community lender. Battle Born Growth’s Small Business Loans page splits them by size. For $250,000 to $5,000,000, you need a bank: apply at your bank or credit union, mention the SSBCI program, and ask the lender to contact Battle Born Growth. Under its Loan Participation Program, Battle Born Growth buys part of the loan from your lender, which keeps servicing it. That program is for a business with 500 or fewer employees. For $20,000 to $250,000, the program works with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) instead of banks. In rural Nevada, that lender is the Rural Nevada Development Corporation (RNDC)². The lending partners page lists the participating banks and credit unions, and says two more CDFIs, Access Capital and RIZE, are still coming online³. It does not yet name an active CDFI for the rest of the state.* Ask the SBDC’s SSBCI specialists which lender takes a loan that size. The Nevada SBDC’s SSBCI page lists the smaller loans as Battle Born microloans, for funding under $250,000, and the larger ones as bank loans with SSBCI support, for funding over $250,000. If a bank would lend but you are short on collateral, the same page lists collateral support, for bank loans when you don't have all the collateral needed. The SBDC’s SSBCI help is no cost to small businesses, and it does not lend money itself⁴.
6. Read the state’s grants page before you plan on grant money. The startup guide points to an Access to Capital Directory, which it describes as a list of contacts for grants, incentives, traditional financing, and other money sources⁷. The Department of Business and Industry’s grants page lists several programs and says grants are not necessarily free money, and usually require matching funds or a loan alongside⁸. Each program sets who it pays and when it takes applications.* Read that program’s own page before you count on it. Be wary of anyone selling access to a guaranteed grant.
7. Keep your paperwork ready. Lenders and advisors ask for formation documents and an EIN. Register your business and Get your tax IDs are those steps.
8. 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 a loan application at a bank, a credit union or a community lender. The decision comes from that lender, or from a bank on a regular SBA loan, and only if you qualify. These pages do not promise a finished plan or an approval.