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There are small business grants in Georgia designed to help your company succeed in the business world. Here are a number of grants, discounts, and loan programs that could help you get your business the kick-start that it needs. If you are also looking for reliable Internet services for your business, contact the IT professionals at DSC today.

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Small Business Grants in Georgia

The following are a number of small business grants in Georgia designed to help new and smaller businesses succeed by providing them with financial support and assistance.

Amber Grant – Small Business Grant for Women in Georgia

What Is the Grant?

The Amber Grant began in 1998 and is a grant that is awarded by WomensNet in memory of a young woman who died when she was 19 before she could realize her small business dreams.  The goal of the grant is to help women like Amber achieve their dreams.

How Much Is the Grant?

WomensNet awards $1,000 each month to one or more qualifying applicants. At the end of the year, one of the recipients will be chosen to receive an additional $9,000.

How Do You Apply?

The great thing about this grant is there are no lengthy and complicated forms to fill out or documents to complete. You simply need to tell them your story and answer a few questions about your business. The deadline for your application is the end of each month.  Click here to apply.

E-Rate Program

What Is the Program?

E-Rate is a program of the Universal Service Fund that provides schools and libraries in the United States with discounts to help them get affordable telecommunication and Internet access.

Who Is Eligible?

Elementary and Secondary schools that fall under the definition outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, as well as libraries that are able to receive assistance from a state’s library administrative agency as outlined by the Library Services and Technology Act of 1996 are eligible to apply. For further details on eligibility requirements, click here.

How Much Are the Discounts?

Eligible schools and libraries can receive discounts on telecommunications and Internet access services anywhere from 20 to 90 percent. Schools and libraries located in rural and low-income areas will receive higher discounts.

How Do You Apply?

Applications for discounts must be sent to the Universal Service Administrative Company by filling in an FCC Form 470. For more detailed information on the application process, click here.

Entrepreneur and Small Business Development Loan Guarantee Program (ESB)

What Is the Loan?

OneGeorgia Authority has partnered with accredited Georgia financial institutions to provide new financial resources and opportunities for eligible businesses in rural, at-risk areas in Georgia.

Who Is Eligible?

This loan program is designed to assist eligible entrepreneurs and small business owners living in rural areas of the state of Georgia. The ESB-funded project needs to be geographically located in one of Georgia’s ESB counties. For a map outlining the qualifying counties, click here.

To be eligible for this loan:

• The owner or majority principal of the sub-recipient business must live in one of the eligible counties
• An eligible county must have a population of fewer than 50,000 people
• 10% or more of the residents of the county must be living in poverty
• A county may be conditionally eligible if it shares a border with a rural county and its own population is less than 150,000

How Much Is the Loan?

Loans ranging from $35,000 to $250,000 could be provided to entrepreneurs and small business owners at competitive interest rates.

How Do You Apply?

Small business owners and start-up businesses should seek assistance from one of the local offices of the Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The center will help you develop a marketing plan and financial projections. These will help strengthen your application when applying for an ESB loan through the bank or lender you have chosen. Click here to contact an SBDC near you in Georgia.

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U.S Small Business Administration (SBA)

What Is the Loan?

The U.S Small Business Administration (SBA) is an organization that partners with lenders to enable small businesses to get loans. The SBA doesn’t loan money directly to the business; they set guidelines for the loans that are made by their partnering lenders, community developments organizations, and micro-lending institutions to help reduce the risk for these lenders. This helps make it easier for small businesses to get loans.

Who Is Eligible?

Individual lenders will have their own requirements for eligibility and will provide you with a complete list of those requirements. In general, your business eligibility will be determined by:

• how it receives its income
• its ownership charter
• where it operates
• meeting size standards (click here for a table of size standards )
• its ability to repay
• having a sound business plan and purpose
• being officially registered to operate legally as a for-profit business
• being physically located and operating in the U.S or its territories
• the owner having invested their own time and money into their business
• inability to get funds from another financial lender

*Note: You may still qualify for startup funding even if you have bad credit.

How Much Is the Loan?

SBA guaranteed loans can range anywhere from $500 to $5.5 million. The money can be used for most business purposes including long-term fixed assets and operating capital. An SBA-guaranteed loan also offers the following added benefits:

• Competitive Terms: The rates and fees on an SBA-guaranteed loan are usually comparable to non-guaranteed loans.
• Counselling and Education: Some of the SBA-guaranteed loans also come with continued support that can help your business to start and keep running successfully.
• Unique Benefits: Some SBA loans require no collateral as well as lower down payments and flexible overhead requirements.

Photo by Shangyou Shi on Unsplash

How Do You Apply?

To apply for a SBA partner loan, you will need to take the following steps:

• Answer a few questions about your business – this usually takes less than five minutes.
• Find a participating SBA-approved lender. Click here to find a lender match.
• Receive an email with contact details about lenders who are interested in your loan. This usually takes about 2 days.
• Talk to the lenders to find out details about their loans including their rates, terms, and fees.
• Submit a loan application to your chosen lender.

DSC  – Providing Reliable Internet Services for Small Businesses in Georgia

DSC has been providing reliable and affordable Internet services for small businesses in Georgia for over 30 years. Our clients know that they can trust us to give them the best managed IT services in the State. We are experts in the IT field and can provide your business with the safe and secure cloud backup services you need. We offer a full range of internet-related services including colocation services, cloud backup, system monitoring, software hosting, dedicated email, website development and implementation, web hosting, e-commerce, security, and a variety of related products and services. We also provide telecommunications services as well as network support for Linus, Microsoft server and workstation platforms, Fortinet firewalls, and Cisco systems. Contact us today for all of your internet-related requirements.