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Government-backed, and it is not the SBA.
USDA Business & Industry loan guarantees for rural Indiana. Terms up to forty years, and most of the state’s ninety-two counties are in play.
What it is.
USDA guarantees part of a loan made by a commercial lender to a rural business. You borrow from the bank; USDA stands behind a portion of it, which lets that bank stretch on term and structure further than it otherwise could. It is the same shape as an SBA guarantee, from a different agency, with different rules and a different map.
The reason it is worth knowing about: the maximum term is forty years. Nothing in the SBA catalog goes that long. On a property purchase, that difference in amortization is the difference in the monthly payment.
The terms.
Guarantee
85% on loans under $5 million, 80% on loans of $5 million and above. The program page states no maximum loan amount.
Typical size
Most of the B&I deals we place fall between $250,000 and $400,000. The program itself states no maximum, so larger projects are possible where the lender and the cash flow support them.
Term
Up to 40 years. Interest rate is negotiated between you and the lender, not set by USDA.
Fees
An initial guarantee fee of 3% of the guaranteed amount, and an annual retention fee of 0.55% of the outstanding guaranteed balance. Some qualifying projects receive reduced 1% fees.
What it can fund
Buying land and buildings, business conversion or enlargement, equipment, modernization, and debt refinancing that creates or preserves jobs. Agricultural production is generally not eligible unless it is vertically integrated into a processing operation.
“Rural” does not mean what most people assume, and this is where deals die.
The rule is not simply “a town under 50,000.” Federal regulation also excludes the urbanised area contiguous and adjacent to any city or town above that threshold. So the built-up ring around Indianapolis is largely out even where the individual town is small, and the same applies around Fort Wayne, Evansville and South Bend. Plenty of Indiana still qualifies. It is just not the part people guess.
Check the address before anything else.
Eligibility is decided at the address, not the town, and USDA publishes the official map. One thing worth knowing up front: an application cannot be approved conditional on the rural requirement being met later. It either qualifies or it does not, and that has to be settled before the file moves.
Check an address on USDA’s eligibility map, or send it to us and we will check it for you.
USDA Rural Development runs an Indiana state office at 5975 Lakeside Boulevard, Indianapolis, on (317) 290-3100.
Who can borrow.
- For-profit and non-profit businesses, cooperatives, federally recognized Tribes, public bodies, and individuals in business
- The project must sit in an eligible rural area. Your headquarters does not have to
- Individual borrowers must be United States citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents. Green card holders are eligible here, which stopped being true for SBA lending on October 1, 2026
- No delinquent federal debt