FUNDING FOR TEXAS BUSINESSES

A Faulk Central Library Research Guide

Getting Started

Texas State Small Business Development Center
1555 University Blvd. #265
Round Rock, Texas 78665
512.716-4800
512.716-4810 [fax]
sbdc@txstate.edu

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) works with existing and startup small companies to help in every phase of the business cycle, including financing.

City of Austin Small Business Development Program
Offers training and technical assistance to anyone starting, expanding, or managing a small business.
One Texas Center, 1st Floor, 505 Barton Springs Rd.
Austin TX 78704
512.974-7786

Government Grants
Generally speaking, grants given to business start-ups are very rare and grants of cash for existing businesses are virtually nonexistent. Unless your business involves the development of new technology or is a nonprofit organization, you will probably have to get a loan for your business. Government grants are designed to assist businesses, but these usually don't go directly to the business. Instead, they go to agencies and organizations, many nonprofit, which perform some service for business or benefit business in some way, such as community development in rural areas. Check sources listed below for government grants.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Faulk Central Library, Grants Center, 2nd floor
Printed or online catalog from the U.S. Government contains a listing of all available government grants. If you find a grant that interests you, make sure that you carefully read the section on Eligibility Requirements to find out if you would be qualified to apply for that particular grant.

Business Loans
Different types of financing are available at banks to small business owners. The major items that most lenders will require when you apply for a loan are: legal papers to establish ownership of the business; description and history of the business; resumes of owners and managers of the business; current personal financial statements of owner, partners, officers of the business; business plan; tax returns for the previous three (3) years; current financial statement of the business; list of proposed uses of the loan; list of assets and debts of the company; list of collateral of the company.

Qualifying for such loans at a bank may be difficult, particularly for start-up companies. Listed below are other lending organizations that offer loans to businesses that may not be eligible for conventional bank loans.

ACCION Texas
912 S. Highway 183
Austin TX 78741
866.312.3771

Nonprofit organization provides credit to small businesses that do not have any current bankruptcies, have either an established (1 year old) business or an alternate source of income, and do not have access to loans from commercial sources. Lends $500-$25,000 to existing businesses or start-ups.

Business Investment Growth, BiGAUSTIN
1050 East 11th Street Ste 350
Austin TX 78702
512.928.8010

BiGAUSTIN is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides training and loans to small businesses, especially minority- and women-owned businesses, in Central Texas. Provides up to $15,000 to start-ups and up to $50,000 for established businesses.

Capital CDC
Wild Basin One, 110 Wild Basin Road, Suite 270
Austin TX 78746
512.327.9229

Capital CDC is the largest, top ranked Certified Development Corporation in Texas providing SBA 504 loans for fixed assets such as land or buildings.

Small Business Administration
727 E. Durango, Room A-527
San Antonio TX 78206
210.472.5900.

SBA operates a number of programs that are specifically designed to assist small businesses in obtaining financing from lending institutions. You must go through the normal application process for an SBA loan, and you must supply all the pertinent records required, as listed above.

Texas Economic Development Department
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428, Austin, Texas 78711
Austin TX 78711
512.463.2000

The Texas Small Business Fund provides financing to foster and stimulate the development of small businesses in Texas.

Venture Capital
Business Angels are private investors with money to invest in deals that might bring a higher return for their money, or benefit society. These people are generally difficult to locate, have investment advisors who screen their deals, and usually want to remain anonymous. Venture Capital can be government sponsored (SBIC), small funds made up of individual investors, large funds with institutional money, or corporate venture capital companies.

Angel Capital Electronic Network ACE-Net
Nonprofit organization initiated by the Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration, to assist small companies to get access to equity capital by allowing individual accredited investors, SBICs and institutional venture capitalists to find small, growing companies through a secure and Internet database. Annual fee.

Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital Sources
Faulk Central Library, Business Information Center, 2nd floor
Main section lists venture capital firms by state. Information provided for listed firms includes type of firm; managers, staff, and contact people; and investing criteria and preferences (industry preference, geographic preference).

SBIC
SBICs, licensed and regulated by the SBA, are privately owned and managed investment firms that use their own capital, plus funds borrowed at favorable rates with an SBA guarantee, to make venture capital investments in small businesses.

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