This post is part of a series of posts designed to help you acquire a loan for your small business. The following posts cover methods for public financing of your small business

Public Sources of Financing – Local Programs

Various governmental units at different levels are currently providing some form of assistance to entrepreneurs. This assistance may be in the form of financial services and loan packaging or technical assistance, tax credits, and the like. To learn more about the variety of programs, contact the planning or business services unit of the county, municipality or township where the proposed business will be located.

In Minneapolis, contact the Community Planning and Economic Development Agency, Business Finance Unit, Crown Roller Mill, Suite 200, 105 Fifth Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55401, telephone (612) 673-5095 or www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/business_assistance.asp . They produce a publication, “Starting a Business in Minneapolis A Practical Guide”.

In St. Paul, contact Planning & Economic Development, Economic Development, 25 West Fourth Street, Suite 1300, St. Paul, MN 55102, telephone (651) 266-6593 or www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=366 .

CREDITS: This is an excerpt from A Guide to Starting a Business in Minnesota, provided by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Small Business Assistance Office, Twenty-eighth Edition, January 2010, written by Charles A. Schaffer, Madeline Harris, and Mark Simmer. Copies are available without charge from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Small Business Assistance Office.