The STRONG Act doubles the maximum loan amounts available for both SBA 7(a) small business loans and development company loans to support national growth.
Mark Alford
Representative
MO-4
The Supporting Trade and Rebuilding Opportunity for National Growth Act, or STRONG Act, significantly increases the maximum loan amounts available through key Small Business Administration (SBA) programs. Specifically, it doubles the maximum size for standard 7(a) loans from $\$3.75$ million to $\$7.5$ million. Additionally, the bill raises the maximum loan amount for development company loans from $\$5$ million to $\$10$ million. These changes aim to provide greater capital access for small business growth and development.
STRONG Act Doubles SBA Loan Caps: Businesses Can Now Borrow Up to $7.5M for Expansion
The newly proposed Supporting Trade and Rebuilding Opportunity for National Growth Act, or the STRONG Act, is a short but mighty piece of legislation focused squarely on injecting more capital into small businesses. If you’re a business owner who’s been eyeing a major expansion—like buying a new warehouse or upgrading a fleet of specialized equipment—this bill changes the game by significantly hiking the maximum loan limits for two crucial Small Business Administration (SBA) programs.
The 7(a) Loan Just Got Bigger
Let’s start with the standard SBA 7(a) loan, which is the SBA’s bread and butter for general business financing. Currently, the biggest loan you can get under this program is capped at $3,750,000. The STRONG Act (Sec. 2) proposes to double that maximum limit to $7,500,000. This is huge. For years, established small businesses have often outgrown the 7(a) cap, forcing them to piece together financing from multiple sources or turn to riskier private loans for large projects. For a successful manufacturing firm looking to drop $6 million on new, high-tech machinery, this change means they can potentially secure the entire amount through a single, SBA-backed loan, simplifying the process and often securing better terms.
Bigger Bucks for Development Projects
The bill also addresses loans for development companies, specifically those covered under Section 502(2)(A) of the Small Business Investment Act (Sec. 3). These loans are often used to finance local development projects, like building shopping centers or industrial parks, which in turn support job creation and local economies. The current cap for these specific loans is $5,000,000 (or $5,500,000 in some specific instances). The STRONG Act proposes to uniformly increase this maximum amount to $10,000,000.
This standardization and doubling of the limit means development companies can take on much larger projects. For example, a development company planning a $15 million overhaul of a downtown commercial block can now secure a $10 million SBA loan toward that project, up from the previous $5 million limit. This increased capacity helps finance larger, more impactful community and regional growth initiatives.
What This Means for the Real World
In short, the STRONG Act is about removing the financial handcuffs that have historically limited the growth of established small and medium-sized businesses. It acknowledges that the cost of doing business—buying commercial real estate, investing in advanced technology, or undertaking major construction—has risen significantly since the last time these caps were seriously reviewed. By doubling the available capital in these key programs, the bill makes it easier for businesses that are ready to scale up to actually do so. While this is great news for businesses with solid financial footing, it’s worth noting that the increased limits primarily benefit those larger, more established small businesses that can qualify for multi-million dollar loans in the first place.