Dakota Business Lending: SBA Lending Profile
Certified CDFI, U.S. Treasury
Dakota Business Lending is a Certified Development Company (CDC), headquartered in Fargo, ND. It is active in 5 states, concentrated around ND, MT, MN. Everything below comes from federal SBA loan records, not from the lender's marketing. This is what it has actually funded.
Loan sizes Dakota Business Lending actually approves
The median SBA approval at Dakota Business Lending is $382,000. The middle 80% of its loans fall between $139,800 and $1,387,000. The smallest funded approval in the available source window is $47,000 and the largest is $5,500,000. If the amount you need sits far outside that range, this is probably not the right first call, no matter what the website says.
Industries it funds most
| Industry | Funded loans in source data | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels | 29 | 4.9% |
| Limited-Service Restaurants | 19 | 3.2% |
| Full-Service Restaurants | 18 | 3% |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) | 14 | 2.3% |
| Offices of Dentists | 14 | 2.3% |
| General Automotive Repair | 13 | 2.2% |
| All Other Specialty Trade Contractors | 11 | 1.8% |
| Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists | 10 | 1.7% |
| Automotive Body, Paint, and Interior Repair and Maintenance | 9 | 1.5% |
| Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services | 9 | 1.5% |
| All Other Personal Services | 9 | 1.5% |
| Full-Service Restaurants | 8 | 1.3% |
How fast Dakota Business Lending actually funds
Approval is not money in the bank. Across 513 loans where both dates are on record, the typical gap between SBA approval and first disbursement at Dakota Business Lending is 211 days. Half its loans fund between 132 and 348 days. That is slow relative to the roughly 20 day typical SBA lender, which is normal for real estate backed deals that need appraisals, but worth planning around if your timeline is tight.
Lending momentum
Dakota Business Lending has held its SBA volume roughly steady from FY2023 to FY2025, a sign of a consistent, established program.
Funded approvals by SBA fiscal year (October to September). FY2026 is excluded because it is still in progress.
Borrower profile
- This institution is a Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution. CDFIs exist specifically to fund businesses and communities that conventional lenders often decline.
- only 14.2% of its funded SBA records with known business age went to startups, this lender works almost entirely with established businesses.
- Collateral was taken on 97.5% of its recent SBA loans.
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Sources and limits. Figures are derived from U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level records (data as of 2026-06-30, retrieved 2026-08-08) and FDIC public institution data. CDFI certification status from the U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund certified institution list. Funding speed is the median gap between approval date and first disbursement date in SBA records. Some lenders report disbursement at month end, which can round the figure upward. They describe past lending activity only. They are not rate quotes, not current offers, and not an indication that any business will qualify. Lender programs and criteria change. Big Brain Funding is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dakota Business Lending.