At the Napa Valley College Small Business Development Center, we are frequently asked about grants to start a business.

In general, there are no grants if you have a for-profit business. To be eligible for most grants, you must have a nonprofit structure such as a 501 c (3).

But what about the guy on TV who says there are hundreds of governments grants available?

Small Business Development Centers are typically listed in these resources. We do receive grants for our operation to help cover the cost of training or counseling, but we do not provide direct grants to businesses.

In the 12 years I have been with the SBDC, I have never seen a financial institution provide a grant to start a regular business.

There are a few exceptions to this rule.

There are Small Business Innovation and Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants to fund innovative research. These grants require you to have a cutting edge technology or that your company team up with a research university or federal laboratory to commercialize some technology.

Another exception could be funding that the Department of Rehabilitation sometimes provides to assist people in starting a business instead of being retrained for another job.

Another type of funding that could be considered a grant are programs some cities have for facade improvement programs where they will match up to a certain amount of the cost to retrofit a storefront in a redevelopment area.

While there are limited grant opportunities for "for-profit businesses," there are several loan programs.

Some cities operate low interest revolving loans funded by Community Development Block Grants. These loans are generally meant to be gap financing, meaning the business must first exhaust traditional sources.

The Small Business Administration offers Community Express Micro-Loans that go up to $25,000 for startups and up to $50,000 for existing businesses.

The SBA does not loan you the money directly. You have to apply through a lender who then applies for an SBA guarantee. In the case of the Community Express Loan program, the SBA guarantees 85 percent of the loan amount.

If you were to default on the loan, the lender can then recover up to 85 percent from the SBA. This makes the deal more bankable from the lenders standpoint.

These micro-loans are typically unsecured loans that use a credit scored approach to determine if you qualify. You do not even need a business plan.

A computer scoring system is used based on your credit, type of business, how long you have been in business, whether you are a home owner, etc.

Since they are computer scored, the lenders can approve or decline the loans very quickly. In fact, you can have the funds electronically deposited into your business checking account in as little as one week.

These Community Express Loans also require the business to work with a technical assistance provider to help with business planning, marketing, etc. The NVC's SBDC is a certified technical assistance provider.

On Monday, we will host a workshop "Finding Money for Your Business" from 6-9 p.m., at the Napa Chamber of Commerce.

The cost is $30. For more information call 253-3210.

Beth Pratt is the director of the Napa Valley College Small Business Development Center.