Fund your Utah business

When your own money is not enough, start with a free advisor, then read which program actually pays. On the USBCI programs below, a lender originates the loan. The state buys a share or funds a loss reserve. Regular SBA loans also come from a lender.

What’s different in Utah

• Advising is free. Workshops are priced one by one. The Utah SBDC offers free, confidential consulting from certified consultants, and free or low-cost training¹.
• The named state money sits with a lender. USBCI does not write you a check, and it does not refinance debt you already have.
• Two loan programs, two size tests. The participation program is for businesses with fewer than 750 employees and loan needs from 10,000 dollars to 20 million dollars. The capital-access program is for businesses with fewer than 500 employees and loan needs from 25,000 dollars to 5 million dollars. It is a loss-reserve program for loans with little or no collateral³.
• The state grants open to a business pay for jobs and projects, not for starting up. One pays per new rural job. The other funds projects, and its 2026 window has closed.
• One district, every county. The office is in Salt Lake City and covers the entire state. The office listing says it serves all 29 counties⁷.

Do this

1. Write down what you need and what it is for. Equipment, inventory, a line of credit, and advice on the application are different asks. The program pages below do not fund all of them.
2. Book free advising. The Utah SBDC offers free, confidential consulting from certified consultants, and free or low-cost training¹. The training page shows the price beside each workshop, so check it before you register. The SBDC article from the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity says the network helps with business plans, startup guidance, leadership, access to capital, and marketing, from an idea through a later sale of the business. To take part, the article says you show up at a center². What you get from the appointment is a conversation and help preparing, not a finished plan and not an approval. The locations page lists each center and the counties it serves.
3. Use the SBA office for the whole state. The Utah District Office in Salt Lake City says it services the entire state. The office listing says it serves all 29 counties. There is not a second district for part of the state. The office offers funding programs, counseling, federal contracting certifications, and disaster recovery⁷.
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 lenders⁸. The SBA loans guide explains who makes each kind.
5. Use USBCI when a lender is willing to make the loan under the program rules. You apply through an enrolled bank, credit union, or other lender. USBCI does not refinance existing debt. The programs run 2023 through 2030³. Start on the USBCI page.
6. Read the Loan Participation Program if you want the state to buy part of a collateralized loan. It is for businesses with fewer than 750 employees and loan needs from 10,000 dollars to 20 million dollars. The state purchases up to 40 percent of the small-business loan. The blended rate is a state rate of 0.5 percent to 3 percent blended with the lender's rate. A participation over 1 million dollars needs added approval from the USBCI committee³. The lender still underwrites the loan.
7. Read the Capital Access Program if collateral is the problem. It is for businesses with fewer than 500 employees and loan needs from 25,000 dollars to 5 million dollars. It is a loss-reserve program for loans with little or no collateral. The state’s money goes into a reserve the lender can use if a loan defaults. Your rate is the lender’s rate. A CAP loan over 250,000 dollars needs added approval from the USBCI committee³.
8. Treat technical assistance as advice, not as a check. The program offers low-cost advisory services and classes in legal, accounting, and financial topics. It is for a business applying for a loan that has fewer than 10 employees, sole proprietors included, or that is at least 51 percent owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals³. It is not a cash grant for equipment or inventory. Be wary of anyone selling access to a guaranteed grant.
9. Hiring in a rural area? Read the Rural Employment Development Incentive. Most programs on the state’s grants page pay counties, cities, or development zones. This grant and the next one are for a business. The program page says it is for businesses creating new high-paying jobs in rural Utah communities. It pays the business up to 6,000 dollars for each new position, and up to 250,000 dollars a year for one business. The business has to be approved before it creates the position. The job has to be full-time, last at least 12 consecutive months, and pay at least the county's average wage. A business mainly in construction, retail, staffing, or public utilities does not qualify. Applications open quarterly, for about two weeks at a time. The last 2026 window is November 1 to 15, 2026⁵. It pays for jobs you add after approval, not for starting up.
10. Have a project tied to the state’s targeted industries? Read the Economic Assistance Grant. The grant page describes one-time, project-based awards of up to 200,000 dollars, through a competitive application. It pays a for-profit or nonprofit whose principal place of business is in Utah and that is registered and in good standing with the Division of Corporations. Projects that develop one of the state's five targeted industries get priority. The 2026 window ran September 15 to 30, 2026⁶ and has closed. The page does not list the next one.* Check the grants page before you plan on it. It is not startup cash.
11. Keep your paperwork ready. Lenders ask for formation documents and an EIN. Register your business and Get your tax IDs are the Utah versions.
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 qualify⁹. 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 the lender, and from USBCI on whether the state takes its share or enrolls the loan in the reserve. These pages do not promise a finished plan or an approval.