WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration is extending a 90% federal loan guarantee to eligible small businesses across the domestic energy and mining supply chain, a move designed to reduce lender risk and channel more private capital into energy production, distribution and related industrial capacity.
The guarantee takes effect immediately through the SBA’s International Trade Loan Program under its updated Standard Operating Procedure 50 10 8.1. It exceeds the standard 75% guarantee available through the agency’s broader 7(a) loan program.
The expanded eligibility covers businesses engaged in oil and natural gas extraction, coal and metal mining, quarrying and mineral production, as well as companies providing drilling and other support services to those industries.
Eligible activities span 28 North American Industry Classification System codes. They include crude petroleum and natural gas extraction; bituminous and anthracite coal mining; uranium, gold, silver, copper and iron ore mining; limestone, granite, sand and gravel operations; and support services for oil, gas and mining companies.
The SBA framed the higher guarantee as an incentive for participating lenders to finance businesses involved in energy production, distribution, grid modernization and equipment manufacturing. By assuming a larger share of the credit risk, the agency is seeking to expand financing available to those borrowers.
“By establishing a 90% Energy Guarantee, the Trump SBA is offering lenders more incentive to deploy capital to the local businesses expanding America’s energy production and distribution,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler stated.
The initiative extends the agency’s recent use of enhanced guarantees to steer financing toward industries identified as strategic priorities. Since May, the SBA has approved $110 million through its 90% Made in America Guarantee and another $82 million through its 90% Grocery Guarantee, according to the agency.
The energy expansion also represents a significant broadening of the International Trade Loan Program’s reach into extractive industries. Eligible businesses now include operators classified under NAICS codes for petroleum and natural gas extraction, oil and gas drilling, coal production, metal ores, industrial minerals and mining-support services.
SBA officials contend that increased domestic energy capacity could ultimately lower utility costs for households and businesses, though the agency did not provide estimates for how much additional lending the new guarantee is expected to generate or quantify its potential effect on energy prices.
The revised operating procedures make other changes to SBA lending programs. The agency is aligning acquisition underwriting with commercial lending practices in an effort to simplify business ownership transfers and is modifying revolving-credit programs aimed at capital-intensive industries.
Those changes include the Manufacturers Access to Revolving Credit Loan and SBA Express programs, according to the agency.
The International Trade Loan expansion follows a broader SBA strategy of using elevated federal guarantees to encourage lending in targeted sectors. A 90% guarantee shifts more potential losses to the federal government if a qualifying borrower defaults, while reducing the exposure retained by participating lenders.
Lenders and businesses seeking to use the expanded program can contact the SBA’s national Finance Managers team, which provides assistance with International Trade Loans and the agency’s working-capital financing programs.
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