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Business Funding Opportunities for Members of the Military Community

The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the SBA’s Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative for veterans and members of the military community wanting to establish or expand small businesses.  Patriot Express is available to the following:

• Veterans,
• Service-disabled veterans,
• Service members leaving active duty,
• Reservists and National Guard members,
• Current spouses of any of the above,
• Spouses of active duty members, and
• The widowed spouse of a service member who died during service, or of a service-connected disability.

Loans are available up to $500,000 and qualify for SBA’s maximum guaranty of up to 85 percent for loans of $150,000 or less and up to 75 percent for loans over $150,000 up to $500,000.

The Patriot Express initiative builds on the more than $1 billion in loans SBA guarantees annually for veteran-owned businesses, and the counseling assistance and procurement support it provides each year to more than 100,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans and Reserve members.

Since its launch, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s SBA Patriot Express Loan Initiative has produced more than 500 SBA guaranteed loans amounting to $51 million, with an average loan amount of nearly $102,000. Details on the initiative can be found at www.sba.gov/patriotexpress.