Business financing in Summit County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
7 institutions are headquartered inside the Summit County line, Akron included, and 3 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Home FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in Summit 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.
- 10
- DOORS HERE
- 7
- BASED HERE
- 63
- OH COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Business Financing
- People
- 540Kresidents of Summit County
- Covers
- Akron
- Elsewhere in OH
- Cuyahoga County →21 doors — the biggest list of any other county in Ohio
- State
- Ohio →63 of 88 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.
Apex Fund for Economic Opportunities · Buckeye State 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.
Buckeye State Credit Union · Oc Credit Union- Apex Fund for Economic OpportunitiesCommunity lending · Business capital
- Buckeye State Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Towpath Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Western Reserve Community Fund, IncCommunity lending · Business capital
- Integrity Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- IN THIS LIST
4 of the 10 doors inside the county line are CDFI-certified.
The U.S. Treasury certifies them to lend to the people banks pass over. It is a loan, not a favour.
- New Horizon Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home
- Summit Credit UnionPersonal · Home
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Summit County line. You can walk in.
- Oc Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Ohio Healthcare Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Seven Seventeen 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.
This guide helps solo contractors, small business owners, and real-estate investors in Summit County, Ohio understand their financing options — from local credit unions and CDFIs to SBA-backed loans and ITIN-friendly lenders. We focus on the local organizations that actually serve Akron and surrounding Summit County communities, because knowing your local options is the most practical place to start. Federal programs like SBA loans are useful tools, but they work best when a local lender or intermediary walks you through them. Take your time, compare options, and never sign anything you do not fully understand.
- 10
- DOORS HERE
- 75
- ACROSS OH
Based in Akron, Ohio. 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.
BEST FORCommunity lending where a bank has already said no, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Akron, Ohio. Treasury-certified as a CDFI, which is a mandate rather than a courtesy: reaching borrowers the mainstream market passes over is the job.
BEST FORWorking capital, equipment and payroll for a small business, and community lending where a bank has already said no.Based in Akron, Ohio. 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 Garfield Hts, Ohio. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Everything below is set by Ohio, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 10 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
None of this is set by a lender. Ohio sets it, and it applies the same in every county in the state — which is why it is worth knowing before you knock on any of the doors above.
- BUSINESS TAX0.26% CAT (Commercial Activity Tax)
What Ohio charges on top of federal. It is the first thing a lender reconciles when your numbers do not match your tax return.
- CORPORATE INCOME TAXNone (replaced by CAT)
It depends on how the business is registered. A sole proprietor almost never pays it — worth knowing which side of that line you are on before you apply.
- SALES TAX5.75% state · 1.49% avg local
What you collect on a job, and what your materials cost. It is the gap between a bid that holds and one that does not.
- WHERE THE MONEY IS HEREManufacturing & Auto · Healthcare & Biotech · Banking & Insurance
Ohio's three biggest sectors. A local lender reads your file against them — a trade that serves these is a trade they already understand.
Sources: Tax Foundation 2025 · Census ACS 5-year 2023 · BEA/MERIC COLI 2024 · Zillow 2026-Q1. As of 2026-04.
The short version.
- 01
10 doors sit inside the Summit County line. They are up the page, by name and by town — and none of them paid to be there.
- 02
4 of them are certified by the U.S. Treasury as CDFIs. Lending where a bank will not is their mandate, not a favour.
- 03
This page did not ask you for a name, an email, or a number, and nothing on it changes based on who you are.
- 04
63 of Ohio's 88 counties hold a door in this lane. If Summit County does not have the one you need, the whole state is one click away.
Same county, another question.
Home FinancingPurchase, renovation, HELOC, and bridge loans for homeowners and investorsSEE IT IN SUMMIT COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN SUMMIT COUNTY →63OH COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in Ohio, in this same lane.75 institutions fund small businesses inside Ohio 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.