SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The bright orange billboard signs that went up recently in Sacramento heralded the news -- a new state website launched this spring offers opportunities for small business owners to connect with lenders who can help them.
The CA Small Business Loan Match website was unveiled in late April. It is part of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank’s (IBank) website where it is administered under the Small Business Finance Center. The loan match site offers small businesses a chance at no cost to them, to tap into a network of up to 40 vetted lenders who cater to small businesses, especially those operating in marginalized areas. Entrepreneurs and business owners start the process by filling out a form on the website that is used to match the business with a potential funding source.
The lenders are mostly Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, which are certified by the U.S. Treasury for their mission-based work with and service to small businesses. All of the lenders on the CA Small Business Loan Match website are certified participating lenders in Small Business Finance Center programs, including its flagship Small Business Loan Guarantee, a program that dates to the 1960s and that provides credit enhancements to lenders, which reduces lenders’ risk in making loans to business owners, allowing small businesses to qualify for funding.
Now the new loan match website takes the process a step further by providing a direct connection between business owners and certified lenders in one place.
Megan Hodapp, Manager of IBank’s Small Business Finance Center, speaks at the California Small Business Loan Match launch event hosted at the California Endowment Center for Healthy Communities in Sacramento on April 24, 2024. (Photo by RSE courtesy of IBank.)
“IBank has been looking to create this type of tool for many years,” said Megan Hodapp, IBank’s Small Business Finance Center Manager. “There has been a gap in the market in the ability for IBank to connect small business owners directly to lenders who are lending in the California small business community.”
In addition to connecting businesses to a lender pool, the website offers a link that provides access to centers where business owners can acquire technical assistance in becoming loan-ready. This assistance can include everything from helping businesses gather the documentation that lenders will ask for, teaching them how to do their financials, help with business planning to ensure they are accessing the right type of credit, and more. The technical assistance program is funded through the U.S Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative and is administered by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate.
The new website’s development and launch was supported logistically and fiscally by partners such as the Community Reinvestment Fund, a national non-profit organization, NextStreet, The Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship, IBank and many others, Hodapp said.
Guests applaud speakers during the California Small Business Loan Match launch event hosted at the California Endowment Center for Healthy Communities in Sacramento on April 24, 2024. Pictured left to right are representatives of Small Business Development Corporation of Orange County — Michael Ocasio, chief executive officer, Eddie Nevarez, credit analyst, Maria Lopez, chief operations officer, Nestor Correa, senior vice president of commercial lending, and Carrie Miller, chief financial officer. (Photo by RSE courtesy of IBank.)
“It was exciting to attend the website launch event in April and to know that the businesses who most need funds to expand, hire workers, purchase equipment and a host of other things, now have a much easier time finding and directly connecting with responsible lenders as well as get help with loan documents, apply for funds and access loan guarantees, all in one place,” said Michael A. Ocasio, president of The Association of Financial Development Corporations (TAFDC).
The association is comprised of seven development corporations around the state which administer the loan guarantee and other programs under IBank. The seven agencies include Small Business Development Corporation of Orange County of which Ocasio is the founder and chief executive officer.
“The state’s economy will ultimately benefit from this new website which supports and grows our at-risk businesses and our association is grateful for the forward thinking and initiative that put it into action,” Ocasio said.
Megan Hodapp, Manager of IBank’s Small Business Finance Center, is joined by participating lenders and attending small businesses for a pre-event financing discussion during the California Small Business Loan Match launch event hosted at the California Endowment Center for Healthy Communities in Sacramento on April 24, 2024. Guests include Jim Ely, president of Small Business Development Corporation of Orange County, fifth from right. (Photo by RSE courtesy of IBank.)
