Business financing in Brown County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
1 institutions are headquartered inside the Brown County line, Green Bay included, and 2 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Home FinancingPersonal Financing
The doors in Brown 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.
- 3
- DOORS HERE
- 1
- BASED HERE
- 46
- WI COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Business Financing
- People
- 269Kresidents of Brown County
- Covers
- Green Bay
- Elsewhere in WI
- Milwaukee County →18 doors — the biggest list of any other county in Wisconsin
- State
- Wisconsin →46 of 72 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.
Bay Bank · Covantage 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.
Covantage Credit Union · University of Wisconsin Credit Union- Bay BankPersonal · Business capital
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Brown County line. You can walk in.
- Covantage Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- University of Wisconsin 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
2 of the 3 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.
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.
Brown County is Green Bay: paper mills, meatpacking plants, trucking yards, a working port, dairy farms on the edges, and a football stadium that turns home games into a local economy of their own. If you run a trade, a food business, a cleaning crew, or a small shop here, this guide explains how business financing works in this economy, who tends to qualify, what paperwork to gather, and which doors serve the county — honestly, including how short the local list is.
It's a process, not a rejection.
Business financing is money you use to start, run, or grow a business and pay back over time: a term loan for a truck or a plow, a line of credit to cover materials and payroll while you wait to be paid, a microloan for something smaller, or an equipment loan secured by the equipment itself.
Brown County's economy is built on making and moving things. Green Bay has long been a paper town, with mills along the Fox River. Meat processing plants employ thousands, and much of that workforce is Latino; the Spanish-speaking community in Green Bay grew up around those plants and now runs tiendas, restaurants, bakeries, cleaning businesses, and construction crews of its own.
Trucking and logistics companies keep drivers and mechanics busy. The port moves bulk cargo.
Hospitals employ a large share of the region.
Dairy farms surround the city. And on Packers game days, restaurants, bars, caterers, and parking lots near the stadium do a season's worth of business in a few hours.
Winter is the big rhythm here. Outdoor construction, landscaping, and roofing slow sharply in the cold months, while snow removal, indoor remodeling, and heating repair pick up. Plant workers who start side businesses often build them on nights and weekends. A lender who knows Brown County expects a winter dip and a plan to get through it. Show them both.
Forget what the banks say.
Lenders look at your ability to repay, your credit history, your time in business, and whether the plan makes sense. In Brown County, people who often fit small-business financing:
- 01Construction
Roofing, and remodeling subcontractors, often paid on 1099s
- 02Snow removal and landscaping operators who run both seasons
- 03Owner-operator truckers and small hauling outfits
- 04Restaurants
Food trucks, caterers, and bakeries — especially those near the stadium and in the city's Latino business corridors
- 05Cleaning companies serving offices, plants, and rentals
- 06Mechanics and small repair shops
- MISSING ONE?Ask Iris which one you're missing.ASK A QUESTION ↓
Get your papers in order.
Most small-business applications in Wisconsin ask for something like:
- 01Photo ID (ask whether they accept a consular ID) and your SSN or ITIN
- 02Proof of your business
LLC or corporation filing with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, or a trade name registration
- 03Any City of Green Bay or municipal license your type of business requires
- 04Your Wisconsin dwelling contractor credential if you pull building permits on houses
- 05Two years of personal tax returns, plus business returns if you file them
- 06Six to twelve months of bank statements
So the lender sees both summer and winter
- 07Your 1099s or a list of the contractors and clients who pay you
- 08A simple profit-and-loss statement
- 09Proof of insurance
- 10One-page plan
What the money is for and how it pays back
- MISSING ONE?Ask Iris which one you're missing.ASK A QUESTION ↓
The doors worth knowing.
The honest picture: the list of institutions based inside the Brown County line is short. One CDFI banking name is based here, two credit unions keep branches here, and the ITIN-friendly lenders are national.
ALL 3 DOORS, BY NAME AND BY TOWN- 3
- DOORS HERE
- 44
- ACROSS WI
Based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. 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 FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Antigo, Wisconsin. 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 Madison, Wisconsin. A credit union: no shareholders to satisfy, and a habit of reading a whole story rather than a single score.
BEST FORWorking capital, equipment and payroll for a small business, and a personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing.
Don't fall into these traps.
Daily withdrawals through a slow winter can sink a seasonal business.
Owner-operators get offers with low payments up front and a large lump sum at the end. Know the full schedule before you sign.
A legitimate lender does not charge a large fee before approving and funding your loan.
Wisconsin allows payday lending, and using it to cover payroll is a fast trap.
A great season can tempt food businesses into big equipment loans sized for peak weekends. Size your borrowing to your average month.
In Wisconsin a notary public only witnesses signatures. A "notario" is not a lawyer, cannot give legal advice, and cannot arrange loans or immigration papers. Anyone promising either for a fee is a red flag.
Real offers wait while you read them.
Everything below is set by Wisconsin, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 3 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
Register an LLC or corporation with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. If you use a business name, consider registering it as a trade name.
If you sell taxable goods or prepared food, get a seller's permit from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
Contractors who pull building permits on one- and two-family homes need a dwelling contractor credential from the state Department of Safety and Professional Services. Lenders financing your work may ask for it.
Wisconsin is a marital property state. If you are married, a lender may ask about your spouse's role in a business debt, especially if marital property secures it.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority run business support and some loan or guarantee programs, often through regional partners. Ask an SBDC adviser what is open now.
Food businesses need the right state or local food license. Get it before you apply; lenders ask.
The short version.
- 01
If you work for yourself in Brown County — on roofs, in kitchens, behind the wheel, or plowing snow — you have options, but the local list is short. A CDFI bank is based in Green Bay, a CDFI credit union keeps a branch here, and the national nonprofits listed here lend to ITIN holders.
- 02
Gather a full year of bank statements so lenders see your summer and winter, plus your licenses and a one-page plan. Start with a CDFI or credit union, compare at least two offers, and use the free advisers at the SBDC or SCORE.
- 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 talk directly with the institutions when you are ready.
Same county, another question.
Home FinancingPurchase, renovation, HELOC, and bridge loans for homeowners and investorsSEE IT IN BROWN COUNTY →
Personal FinancingPersonal loans, credit building, and ITIN-friendly financing optionsSEE IT IN BROWN COUNTY →46WI COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in Wisconsin, in this same lane.44 institutions fund small businesses inside Wisconsin 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.