Business financing in Genesee County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
5 institutions are headquartered inside the Genesee County line, Flint included, and 6 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Home FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in Genesee County.
The CDFIs, credit unions, and microlenders that actually say yes — county by county, in two languages. We are not a lender. Nobody paid to be listed. And where a county has no good doors, we say so.
- 11
- DOORS HERE
- 5
- BASED HERE
- 76
- MI COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Business Financing
- People
- 406Kresidents of Genesee County
- Covers
- Flint
- Elsewhere in MI
- Wayne County →43 doors — the biggest list of any other county in Michigan
- State
- Michigan →76 of 83 counties hold a door in this lane
Certified by the U.S. Treasury to lend where a bank will not. Nonprofit, patient, and used to a file that is not clean.
Elga Credit Union · Financial Plus Credit UnionOwned by their members, not by shareholders. They look at your whole story rather than a score, and that is the difference when a bank says no.
Credit Union One · Dort Financial Credit Union- Dort Financial Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Elga Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Financial Plus Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Metro Community Development, Inc.SBA microlenderCommunity lending · Business capital
- Security Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Genesee County line. You can walk in.
- Credit Union OnePersonal · Home · Business capital
- Frankenmuth Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Genisys Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Pfcu Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Team One Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- University of Michigan Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Accion Opportunity FundAccepts ITIN
Nonprofit small-business lender. Accepts ITIN in place of SSN. Serves most states, in English and Spanish.
Business capital - Grameen AmericaAccepts ITIN
Microloans for women entrepreneurs. Requires photo ID and proof of address — no SSN requirement. Branches in major metro areas.
Business capital - Mission Asset FundAccepts ITIN
Zero-interest lending circles and credit building. SSN or ITIN accepted. Works through nonprofit partners across the country.
Personal
How to read this list.
We do not ask for your name, your email, or your number. Nothing on this page changes based on who you are.
A door is headquartered here when its head office sits inside the county line. The rest are based elsewhere and keep a branch you can walk into. We list both, and we label which is which.
Every institution on this page comes from public federal data — the CDFI Fund certified list (Aug 2026), NCUA credit union data (Jun 2026), and the SBA microloan intermediary list (Sep 2026) — plus a short national tier we verified by hand. We refresh each list as its agency publishes. No listing is paid.
Genesee County is Flint and the towns around it: Grand Blanc, Burton, Fenton, Flushing, Davison, and Swartz Creek, home to 406,211 people. It is an auto town that has had to reinvent itself, and the small businesses doing that work are trades crews, rehabbers, food entrepreneurs, and storefront owners. This guide explains how business financing works here, who qualifies, what to gather, the unusually strong set of local CDFI and credit union doors in our directory, the ITIN-friendly national options, and the traps to avoid.
It's a process, not a rejection.
Business financing is money you borrow to start, run, or grow your work: a term loan for a van or equipment, a line of credit to cover slow weeks, a microloan for a first purchase order, or a commercial loan to buy or fix up a building.
Genesee County's economy still carries the auto industry's fingerprints. General Motors was founded in Flint, and auto production and suppliers remain part of the picture, alongside large hospital systems, universities and colleges in Flint, and retail and services along the main corridors. Around that core, a big share of the small-business activity is about rebuilding: rehabbing older houses, clearing and repurposing vacant lots, re-opening storefronts, and replacing aging infrastructure in homes and businesses.
For a contractor or small owner here, that means two things. There is real work, much of it tied to rehab and repair. And in neighborhoods where mainstream lending has been thin, the county has a stronger-than-usual set of mission lenders and community-minded credit unions to fill the gap. Knowing which door to knock on first matters.
Forget what the banks say.
Every institution asks: Can you repay? Have you repaid before? How long have you been doing this? What happens if a job falls through?
In Genesee County, the people most likely to get a yes include:
- Trades contractors doing rehab, roofing, plumbing, electrical, and demolition work, including those paid on 1099s
- Small landlords buying and fixing up one or two older houses
- Food businesses, from food trucks to small restaurants, with a track record of sales
- Storefront retailers and service shops in Flint's neighborhoods and the surrounding towns
- Auto-industry workers who have built a side business into something steady
Mission lenders (CDFIs) are built for people who do not fit a bank's box: newer businesses, thin credit, or neighborhoods banks pass over. They still want to see a realistic plan, but they look at character and context, not only scores.
If you use an ITIN instead of an SSN, the national nonprofits in this guide lend to ITIN holders, and some local CDFIs may as well, so ask directly.
The most common obstacle is mixed money. Open a separate business account and run every sale and expense through it.
Get your papers in order.
Every lender has its own checklist, but these come up almost every time:
- 01Photo ID (driver's license, state ID, passport; ask whether a consular ID is accepted)
- 02SSN or ITIN
- 03Your LLC papers or assumed name (DBA) certificate, plus any state trade license
- 04Personal tax returns for the last two years, and business returns if you file them
- 05Three to six months of bank statements, ideally from a business account
- 061099s or contracts from the companies or property owners you work for
- 07For a building or rehab loan
The property address, purchase price, and a written scope of work with estimates
- 08A short business plan covering what the money is for and how it gets repaid
- 09A list of equipment and vehicles you own
- MISSING ONE?Ask Iris which one you're missing.ASK A QUESTION ↓
The doors worth knowing.
Genesee County has more local doors than most counties its size, including a mission lender and several credit unions certified as CDFIs. Start there.
ALL 11 DOORS, BY NAME AND BY TOWN- 11
- DOORS HERE
- 118
- ACROSS MI
Based in Flint, Michigan. A community development financial institution, certified by the U.S. Treasury to lend where a bank will not, and used to a file that is not clean. It lends SBA microloan money.
BEST FORCommunity lending where a bank has already said no, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Grand Blanc, Michigan. A member-owned credit union, which means the people deciding on your file answer to depositors in the same towns you work in. It is CDFI-certified.
BEST FORBuying, repairing or refinancing a home, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Flint, Michigan. A credit union: no shareholders to satisfy, and a habit of reading a whole story rather than a single score. It is CDFI-certified.
BEST FORWorking capital, equipment and payroll for a small business, and a personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing.Based in Grand Blanc, Michigan. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no. It is CDFI-certified.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.
Don't fall into these traps.
Pitched as fast money, these buy your future sales and pull payments daily or weekly. The true cost can be far higher than a loan's. With CDFIs nearby, there is rarely a reason to start here.
Cheap buildings can cost far more to bring up to code than to buy. Get a real scope of work and contractor estimates before you commit.
A real lender does not charge a large fee before approving your loan.
A notario público is not a lawyer in Michigan. Do not pay anyone who promises a guaranteed loan, LLC, or tax fix.
A deal that must be signed today is designed to keep you from comparing. Take it to the SBDC, SCORE, or a CDFI loan officer first.
Everything below is set by Michigan, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 11 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
A few Michigan rules matter for small contractors and owners:
LLCs and corporations are formed through the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Sole proprietors using a business name file an assumed name certificate with the county clerk.
Residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors need a state license from LARA for most paid work on homes, and electricians, plumbers, and mechanical contractors have their own licenses. Rehab lenders and property owners often ask for your license number.
If you sell taxable goods, register for sales tax with the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Cities and townships in the county issue their own building permits, and rehab work on older homes may trigger code and lead-safe work requirements. Build those into your bids.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the SBDC network can tell you which state and local small-business programs are open now. Programs change, so ask what is current.
The short version.
- 01
Genesee County has work for builders, rehabbers, food businesses, and storefront owners, and it has more mission-driven lenders than most places its size. Use that.
- 02
Separate your business money, gather your returns and statements, write a short plan, and start with the Flint CDFI and the CDFI-certified credit unions based in the county before you look anywhere else. If you use an ITIN, ask them directly and bring in the national nonprofits that accept it. Ask every institution two questions: do you lend to ITIN holders, and do you report payments to the credit bureaus?
- 03
Origen Capital is a directory, not a lender. We do not collect your information or sell you anything. Use this guide as a starting point and work directly with the institution you choose.
Same county, another question.
Home FinancingPurchase, renovation, HELOC, and bridge loans for homeowners and investorsSEE IT IN GENESEE COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN GENESEE COUNTY →76MI COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in Michigan, in this same lane.118 institutions fund small businesses inside Michigan county lines.OPEN THE STATE →Still don't see your situation?
Ask Iris. She'll explain it the way it should have been explained the first time.