There has been much discussion the past 6 months about the benefits of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka the “Economic Stimulus”), but one major benefit that has largely escaped media attention is that small and mid-sized businesses that were previously out of SBA eligibility now have a way to get more.

And it is quite simple really…they just need to go a little green.

Prior to the new legislation you had to be a small manufacturing facility to access the maximum SBA 504 loan, but now if you can make your business more energy efficient you can access more money from the SBA.

How can this help?  Well, let’s say you currently have an SBA 504 loan for a small assisted living facility or adult day care center and you want to open another at a cost of approx $6,000,000.  Let’s further assume that you have all of your SBA eligibility with your current 504 loan.  (Remember, the 504 loan is actually only the second mortgage – for more details about the structure of the 504 program please visit our main site: SBA 504 ).

$2 million would have been the most you could have (previously) borrowed under the program, but now if you go a little green and either cut your energy consumption on the new facility by 10% or more (or produce and use some of your own energy and it results in a 10% or more reduction in energy consumption) then “VOILA” you have made yourself and your property eligible for another $2 million in SBA 504 second mortgage financing…and you have reduced your long term costs.