CFRA Loans (CFRA)

Are you starting or expanding a small business in Nebraska? Do you need just a little bit more working capital? Have you tried, but have been unsuccessful in getting a traditional bank loan? Our small business loans may be your answer.

To serve a more diverse set of clients, our underwriting process is more flexible than traditional lenders. For example, CFRA can work with you if you have little or no credit history, are just starting your business, or if you are in an industry that is difficult for traditional banks to underwrite.

Loans can be used for working capital, equipment, inventory, and real estate.

Open to individual business owners — the Center for Rural Affairs is a nonprofit CDFI lender, not a grant program with an entity list.

Who it is for, verbatim: "Are you starting or expanding a small business in Nebraska? Do you need just a little bit more working capital? Have you tried, but have been unsuccessful in getting a traditional bank loan? Our small business loans may be your answer."

Where: Nebraska. That is the only geography the loan pages state.

Underwriting, and this is the point of the program: "To serve a more diverse set of clients, our underwriting process is more flexible than traditional lenders. For example, we can work with you if you have little or no credit history, are just starting your business, or if you are in an industry that is difficult for traditional banks to underwrite." So no minimum credit score, no years-in-business minimum, and no prior-bank-denial requirement is published — a startup with no credit file is explicitly in scope.

Who the Center prioritizes: "The Center for Rural Affairs is a nonprofit, mission-driven lender focusing on underserved communities, primarily to rural, Latino, Native, and other communities that mainstream finance doesn't traditionally reach. We are a Community Development Financial Institute, certified by the U.S. Treasury." This is a stated focus, not a published exclusion. All services are offered in English and Spanish.

Two products, different sizes. Small Business Loans run "$1,000 to $250,000" for "working capital, equipment, inventory, and real estate." Express Loans are "designed for new and returning borrowers with credit needs of $20,000 or less" and are "underwritten on credit score and two personal bank statements allowing for fast decisions."

What Express Loans require you to produce: a completed application; "Government-issued ID for each borrower"; "Proof of business legal name and address: a utility bill, signed lease agreement, government-issued incorporation/organization document, or other document providing proof of business legal name and address"; "Two personal bank statements: most recent months available from borrower's primary checking account"; and a "Funding Source Eligibility Statement (provide at prequalification stage)" — the contents of that statement are not published, so ask your loan specialist what it asks for.

No acreage, commodity, farm-size, or income test applies — this is business lending, not a farm program. If your borrowing is specifically farm or food related, note that the Center runs separate Food & Farm loan products (including meat processing and bridge loans) with their own pages; this record's terms are the small-business line. Apply through the secure online lending system, or contact a loan specialist — 402.687.2100.

• Prequalify in 2 days

• Affordable interest rate

• 1 to 15 year terms with fixed rate

Applications are accepted through this secure online lending system.