Small-business owners will have the opportunity to learn how to get a first small-business loan request approved Thursday, Feb. 1.

Devin Costa-Cargill, Kristin Fong and Amy Lea will lead a Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network workshop titled “The Inside Scoop: How to Get Your First Small Business Loan Request Approved” from 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. at the Powell Library, located at 217 E. Third St. in Powell. To register, visit wysbdc.org/workshop. Registration is free, and attendees are encouraged to bring a lunch.

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by the University of Wyoming with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The workshop, co-sponsored by the U.S. SBA, will take small-business owners behind the scenes and share what it will take to get ready to approach a lender and how small-business owners can increase their chances of getting an approval for their loan requests.

The workshop will cover preparing a personal financial statement; checking your credit score; what your safety net looks like if it takes longer than you expect to achieve the revenues you’re projecting; and a hands-on case study to review cash flow projections for a loan application to better understand how to evaluate a potential deal from a lender’s perspective. 

Costa-Cargill is the Wyoming SBDC Network regional director for Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park and Washakie counties. She launched her consulting career in the public school system, specifically in special education. For the past 10 years, Costa-Cargill has operated her own small business, providing consultation and enrichment to families and early educators. Her work with the Wyoming SBDC Network began in April 2021, advising small-business startups through the first important steps of their journey.

Fong is the northwest regional director for the Wyoming Business Council, and Lea is the district director of the Wyoming district office of the U.S. SBA.

Workshop attendees also will have an opportunity to schedule a free one-on-one appointment with Costa-Cargill to assist with developing cash flow projections for their businesses to help explain to their lenders where the money to repay their loans will come from — in a format they will understand.

For more information, call Maureen Johnson, marketing, communication and database manager for the Wyoming SBDC Network, at (307) 343-0925 or email mjohn125@uwyo.edu.