(FORTUNE Small Business) – Washington, D.C., is one place that many small business owners naturally shun when prowling for assistance and expansion financing. After all, the nation's capital is the place where those crushing taxes and burdensome regulations originate. It conjures up images of bloody IRS audits and entrepreneurs strangled by red tape. Why go there?

Here's why. Uncle Sam may take away, but he also giveth. The federal government is a treasure trove of subsidies, grants, and loans for small business. Competitive intelligence and technical assistance can be gleaned from nearly every agency inside the Beltway. And as if that wasn't good enough, these very same agencies--from the Department of Transportation to NASA--offer the corporate small fry a chance to bid on billions of dollars worth of government contracts. Under a long-standing federal edict, of the $200 billion in federal contracts that are awarded annually on everything from pencils to supercomputers, 23%, or about $46 billion, is targeted to go to small and midsized firms. It's all there for the asking behind the doors of these venerable institutions. You just have to know where to knock, and what to look for.

The timing for such an expedition couldn't be better, since President George W. Bush is a big fan of small businesses. He likes them considerably more than the big guys. Bush, it turns out, isn't a Corporate Republican. He's more of a Populist Republican, who focuses on Main Street rather than on Wall Street. The proof: his new budget proposal, which slashes a wide range of taxes and government bureaucracy to help America's little guy. Maybe that's because he considers himself to be a former entrepreneur. (He ran an oil drilling company early in his career in Texas, you know.)

As a result, the Washington Mall is brimming with bennies for small business owners in odd nooks and crannies. Looking for venture capital to develop an information-security or data-retrieval technology? Try contacting the agents at the CIA (www.odci.gov). Last year the CIA chartered In-Q-Tel, a private, not-for-profit "venture catalyst" that's dedicated to developing information technology that can be used in data mining--as well as spying. The initiative has inspired other agencies, like NASA, to consider launching similar seed funds. Looking to introduce robotics to improve quality control at your factory? The National Institute of Standards and Technology helps transfer know-how to small manufacturers through a network of nonprofit centers that are operated in partnership with state universities and local economic development agencies.

And there's much, much more. From the Department of Commerce to the Department of Agriculture, there are subsidies to be plumbed and applied for. To help Washington neophytes on a bounty hunt, here's a guided tour of the obvious and the obscure pit stops every entrepreneur should make while afoot in the nation's capital.

FIRST STOP: 409 Third Street SW Of course, the first stop has to be the Small Business Administration (SBA). Not everyone finds the SBA easy to deal with, but of all the government agencies, the SBA (www.sba.gov) runs the widest selection of programs that help entrepreneurs deal with the challenges they face--from startup to grand exit. Its Small Business Development Centers provide management and technical counseling. Need help writing the executive summary of your business plan? Drop by a center near you. The centers are co-sponsored by state governments and are usually located on college campuses. To find one near you call 1-800-UASK-SBA, or turn to another SBA-sponsored nonprofit group, the Service Corps of Retired Executives. Better known as score, this army of 12,000 volunteers has vast experience operating companies. They provide advice on everything from cash-flow management to estate planning, both on-line and offline. Founded in 1964, SCORE (www.score.org) has helped some 4.5 million small businesses since its inception.

Counseling aside, the SBA also offers a wellspring of financing options for the small business owner who sometimes can't get money through conventional means. One of its most popular initiatives is its 7(a) loan guarantee program. Under the program, Uncle Sam guarantees up to 85% of a loan for a company that is having trouble raising money from a private bank or commercial-finance company on its own. The loan can be used for almost anything, from working capital to equipment purchasing at favorable terms. Such a deal!

Since one size needn't fit all small companies, some of SBA's 7(a) loan program has been tailored for small business owners in different circumstances. For those who need a fast turnaround, the SBA's LowDoc and SBAExpress programs are options. Each approves loans of up to $150,000 within 36 hours, with only one page of documentation. But for those who need small infusions of cash, the microloan program is a good bet. It provides up to $35,000 in loans through nonprofit, community-based lenders. And for research projects, the SBA's Small Business Innovation Research (www/sba.gov/sbir/sbir.html) program is tops. It provides grants to entrepreneurs for R&D projects sought by government agencies. The money comes from 10 federal agencies--including NASA and the National Institutes of Health--each of which must set aside 2.5% of its research dollars for small companies. That works out to around $1 billion a year in grants.

The SBA is also a venture capitalist. The Small Business Investment Companies program provides equity capital as well as debt financing to help fast-growing startups. Through its Investment Division, the SBA in effect is a super VC (to use a Silicon Valley term). Here's how it works: The SBA licenses VC investment firms and provides them with capital to hand out to startups. To date, the SBA has sanctioned approximately 300 of these so-called small business investment companies, or SBICs. Since its inception, the program has fostered the distribution of more than $20 billion to nearly 100,000 small companies, including Staples and Intel.

SECOND STOP: 1400 Independence Avenue SW It would be wrong to think that the SBA holds all the good news for small businesses. Some of the quirkiest and potentially most lucrative benefits reside in, of all places, the Department of Agriculture (www.usda.gov). For instance, the Business Programs portion of its Rural Business-Cooperative Service offers $1 billion a year to fund projects that create or preserve quality jobs or that promote a clean environment in rural areas. The Rural Housing Service distributes more than $4 billion in loans and grants annually to improve housing and community facilities in the countryside. And the Rural Utilities Service gives out more than $3 billion in loans annually to bolster electrical, water, and telecommunications operations in farm regions. Small businesses in these catagories are encouraged to vie for any of these benefits.

Of course, the Department of Agriculture also tries hard to support America's farmers through subsidies and market intelligence on everything from the commodity markets to pricing. Its publications are invaluable tools for small companies in the food production and processing business.

THIRD STOP: 14th & Constitution Avenue NW The Department of Commerce is usually associated with big business. And that's accurate to a point. Its International Trade Administration (ITA) often comes to the aid of small companies. To help fledgling exporters, ITA co-sponsors more than 100 Export Assistance Centers throughout the U.S. Located in major cities, the centers serve as one-stop depots for export finance, marketing, and promotion.

ITA also runs a hidden jewel: the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service network. Run out of the Export Assistance Centers and foreign embassies, ITA's experts provide a matchmaking service that connects overseas distributors and joint venture partners with American firms eager to do business abroad. And through its Gold Key program, services are custom-tailored to meet the needs of each small business owner (800-USA-TRADE).

The Commerce Department provides niche services too. Its Minority Business Development Agency, for example, runs over 100 business resource centers throughout the country (www.mbda.gov). The centers, which are operated by private firms, state and local government agencies, Native American tribes, and educational institutions, provide minority entrepreneurs with one-on-one assistance in writing business plans, marketing, and developing e-commerce opportunities. They even help clients find foreign markets for their goods and services.

FOURTH STOP: 811 Vermont Avenue NW Washington is increasingly trade-oriented. The Bush Administration has made it clear it wants to expand free-trade agreements with other nations. That's good news for companies looking to expand overseas. But few first-time exporters can leap across America's borders without the help of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank). Behind the scenes, the credit agency has financed billions of dollars worth of U.S. exports since 1934. True, much of this aid goes to mammoth corporations like Boeing. But believe it or not, 86% of all transactions Ex-Im Bank authorized during its last fiscal year, ended September 30, were with small businesses.

Here's just a taste of what the Ex-Im Bank (www.exim.gov) does: It provides direct loans, and guarantees working capital lines of credit and commercial loans to foreign purchasers of U.S. exports. It provides insurance that protects American exporters against the risks of nonpayment by foreign buyers. What tiny firm with overseas sales in its sights wouldn't want that kind of assistance?

FIFTH STOP: 1100 New York Avenue NW The Overseas Private Investment Corporation has a different philosophy. The agency that sounds like an oil cartel (OPEC) but isn't (its acronym is OPIC), insures investments in developing countries against political risks such as the expropriation of funds, or civil unrest. OPIC also provides project financing and runs a host of quasi-VC funds that disburse millions of dollars to companies that want to set up shop in countries deemed risky, such as Estonia and several unstable African nations. Small businesses are at the top of the heap at OPIC (www.opic.gov). Do you want to open a widget factory in Budapest? Look for investors right here.

SIXTH STOP: 451 7th Street SW The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a lot of money to spread and it goes out of its way to assist minority-owned businesses. Its Community Development Block Grant program, for instance, gives $3 billion in grants annually to revitalize neighborhoods, expand low-income housing, and improve public facilities in inner cities. The communities that get the cash often subcontract an array of projects--everything from construction to building renovation--with small businesses who bid for the work. The grant program also oversees the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program, in which entrepreneurs who qualify can get a low-interest loan if they are working on a grant project. To take advantage of local opportunities, navigate HUD's Website (www.hud.gov).

LAST STOP: Across the Potomac The final stop on our tour takes us out of Washington and across the Potomac River to the Pentagon--specifically, its in-house research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Known as DARPA, the agency allocates millions of dollars a year in grants to fund small business R&D that can serve both the military and the private sector through the Small Business Innovation Research program. It also subcontracts some of its own research, which companies of all sizes are invited to bid on. Its efforts are worth keeping an eye on. DARPA is best known outside the capital as the creator of the Internet, and it still expends millions of dollars a year to develop the next generation of cyberspace technology. What better way for a small business to grow large than through a newest trend in the digital universe? Who would ever have thought that Washington, of all places, could be so entrepreneurial?