Financing Your Business
Starting or expanding your business means you most likely need access to capital. Below are some business lending resources available to businesses in Lafayette County and Wisconsin. Below are featured business financing options to help get your business started or to take it to the next level.
SBA: Small Business Funding Programs
The SBA works with lenders to provide loans to small businesses. The agency doesn’t lend money directly to small business owners. Instead, it sets guidelines for loans made by its partnering lenders, community development organizations, and micro-lending institutions. The SBA reduces risk for lenders and makes it easier for them to access capital. That makes it easier for small businesses to get loans.
Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority: Business Lending
WHEDA’s mission is to stimulate the state’s economy and improve the quality of life for Wisconsin residents. WHEDA offers a unique set of lending tools to help small and medium sized businesses.
Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation: Finance Your Business
One of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face when starting or growing their business is finding the money to do it! Some business owners will rely on their personal savings, others will bootstrap their financing together through friends and family, and others may get funding through banks or credit unions.
In some situations, there is another option…WWBIC. We are the State’s largest microlender providing access to fair capital for business start-ups and expansions.
WWBIC makes loans to small and micro businesses up to $250,000. We work with both women and men in analyzing their business’ financial needs and guiding them through the loan process.
USDA Rural Development: Business Programs
Business Programs provide financial backing and technical assistance to stimulate business creation and growth. The programs work through partnerships with public and private community based organizations and financial institutions to provide financial assistance, business development, and technical assistance to rural businesses. These programs help to provide capital, equipment, space, job training, and entrepreneurial skills that can help to start and/or grow a business. Business Programs also support the creation and preservation of quality jobs in rural areas.
Wisconsin DOR: Tax Incentives for Businesses
Wisconsin has a wide range of state tax incentives to encourage business growth and job creation.
The manufacturing and agriculture tax credit, incentives for investing in Wisconsin businesses, and other new and existing tax incentives give Wisconsin one of the best business tax climates in the country.
Regional Revolving Loan Fund
Do you need low interest money to help grow your business? The Regional Revolving Loan Fund was created to assist business development and expansion projects that address unmet regional and community needs in Crawford County. This fund, under the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission, is available to help businesses in Crawford County.
Compeer Financial
Compeer Financial is a member-owned, Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting agriculture and rural communities. We provide loans, leases, risk management and other financial services throughout 144 counties in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Based in the upper Midwest, Compeer Financial exists to champion the hopes and dreams of rural America. With 1,200 dedicated team members serving more than 43,000 clients, we offer specialized expertise and personalized service regardless of the size of the farm, the type of crop grown or the livestock raised. Our services are provided with convenience in mind, through visits to fields, barns and homes, or by maximizing technology to make the most of every hour in every day.
Compeer Financial regularly collaborates with others who are also dedicated to agriculture and rural America. Our in-house specialists participate in conversations that extend beyond our service area, providing formal and informal insight on topics pertinent to all industries, including dairy, swine, grain and renewable energy. With $18 billion in loan and lease assets, Compeer Financial is one of the largest cooperatives in the Farm Credit System. This nationwide network of lending institutions supports agriculture and rural communities with reliable, consistent credit and financial services.
Compeer also provides Grants and Scholarships for Ag Education, Rural Development and Beginning Farmers.
Additional Key Websites to Visit:
SBA: Small Business Funding Programs
Wisconsin Housing and Economic Authority: Business Lending
Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation
USDA Rural Development: Business Programs