Local loans available for new, growing businesses

The local economic development agency is reminding people interested in starting or expanding a business that it can help them out.

Bear Paw Development Corp. announced it has loan funds available, from various sources at the state and federal level, for business owners in northern Montana.

“Small businesses are the backbone of active Main Streets and healthy communities in our region of northern Montana and Bear Paw Development has been helping finance business start-ups and expansions for more than 35 years,” Bear Paw Executive Director Paul Tuss said in a press release. “Whether it’s someone who has a great idea but has never been a business owner before, or someone who has been in business for years, Bear Paw has financing available to help with the capital needs that exist in our area.”

The release said Bear Paw is focused on helping small business owners with their capital needs through the loans.

Bear Paw has developed funding for business loans through partnerships with agencies at the state and federal level, including the Montana Department of Commerce, USDA Rural Development and the Economic Development Administration, the release said.

The funds can be loaned to for-profit entities for a variety of purposes, with an emphasis on creating or retaining jobs and expanding the local tax base.

“Bear Paw Development has assisted in financing hundreds of small business ventures in northern Montana over more than three decades. We have a track record to be proud of, but we are very future-focused and want our region’s entrepreneurial community to know that we will help them in any way we can to achieve success,“ Tuss said in the release. “Reaching out to our Loan Department is an important first step to take to see how we can be useful in meeting the financing needs of the business community.”

He added that Bear Paw is also home to northern Montana’s regional Small Business Development Center, which helps craft business plans, provide business-specific training opportunities and find solutions to the most difficult problems small businesses experience.

“The bottom line is we have both the technical assistance and the funding to take businesses to the next level of success, and these services are all located under one roof,” Tuss said. “Our mission is to help northern Montana continue to be a wonderful place to build a business and invest. We are excited about the future and want to let folks know about the services we have to offer that can help them excel.”

To reach Bear Paw Development’s Loan Department or Small Business Development Center, call 406-265-9226 or email Trish Cichosz, director of Loan Services, at [email protected] or Joe LaPlante, SBDC director, at [email protected].