Finding funding for rural businesses

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(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Dear FSB: We are a small business in a rural community that is in need of money to redirect and retool our company. After 30 years in the commercial satellite installation business, we need to look elsewhere for future growth but do not have the investment capital. Our needs are large enough that we can't afford it ourselves and too small to attract investors. We employ about 15 people and numerous contractors in a high overhead low to no margin business. SBA loans are prohibitively expensive and bureaucratic, and grants also have expensive strings attached. I need help to move forward.

- Kim Birkhimer, Sandpoint, Idaho

Dear Kim: One of the best ways to find alternative sources of funding is to look for grants and loans that are targeted to your business' location and/or type. In your case, it seems that this would be rural telecommunications.

Dane Henshall in the rural development department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests looking at the Rural Development Telecommunications Program, which has four categories of loan and grant programs for which your company may well be eligible.

The Community Connect Grant, for example, offers funding to organizations that will provide unserved areas with a broadband service "that fosters economic growth and public safety services."

Henshall also recommends that you contact your state's rural development office, which might be able to provide information about state programs, such as the Rural Business Enterprise Grant, which supports small businesses via public agencies and nonprofit groups.