Notes from the SBA desk.
Lender-policy shifts, rate movement, what we're seeing in the deal queue, and the plain-language SBA explainers we wish someone had written when we started.
Two New SBA Loan Programs Launch May 1, 2026 | Irving Fund
The short version: On May 1, 2026, the SBA opens two new 7(a) loan programs — one for U.S. manufacturers, one for businesses across the food supply chain. Both carry a 90% federal guarantee, up from…
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SBA Eliminating SBSS Score for 7(a) Loans: What It Actually Means
What It Actually Means The SBA has officially announced a meaningful change to how certain SBA loans will be screened. Effective March 1, 2026, the SBA will discontinue use of the FICO Small Business…
WSJ Prime Rate Falls to Lowest Mark in 3 Years
Over the last few months, something meaningful has shifted in the SBA lending market—and most business owners haven’t noticed yet. Prime has fallen back below 7%, and that single move is reopening…
How to Get Your Credit and SBA Application in Order Before the New Year
Most business owners wait until January to think about financing. That’s a mistake. By then, lenders are swamped, documents are stale, and you’re playing catch-up. If you want to be in the best…
What 1,000 Tax Returns Taught Us About SBA Approvals in Early 2025
We reviewed over a thousand tax returns in the first half of 2025. Across industries, locations, and deal sizes, certain patterns came up again and again — and they weren’t subtle. If you’re a small…
Building a Smarter SBA Network: Losing Deals & Discovering Hidden Gems
When a deal doesn’t go through, most lenders move on. At Irving Fund, we lean in. Every decline, every bank deposit we see hit a client’s account from another SBA lender—we treat that as an…
IDRAW: The Funding You Actually Control
Let’s be honest: Most short-term financing products are designed to work for the lender, not the borrower. You get the money fast — but you’re on the hook for full repayment no matter how early you…
Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill — What It Could Mean for Small Business Owners
With Trump now back in the White House, his administration has wasted no time pushing forward a sweeping economic proposal — what he’s dubbed the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” The legislation is currently…
The DOGE-Inspired SBA Shake-Up: Why It Just Got Harder — and More Important — to Work with Pros
Recently, the SBA tightened up its 7(a) loan program. While it wasn’t officially named after a meme coin, the rule changes were definitely inspired by the wild west of SBA lending over the past…
Credit-Based SBA Loans: No Profit Needed, No Problem
There’s a persistent myth that you need to show strong profit margins and tax returns to get an SBA loan. That may have been true before — but not anymore. Welcome to the world of credit-based SBA…
Welcome to the Irving Fund Report — No Fluff, Just Funding That Works
Welcome to the Irving Fund Report — your new go-to for straight talk on business financing. Let’s get something clear from the start: we’re not here to sell you on fairytales, or parade around “easy…