First Interstate Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
The strongest published SBA surface among the Mountain West's relationship banks: acquisitions named first, the sub-$500k fast lane explained, a dedicated team to call. Rates stay unpublished, so treat it as the regional desk to work alongside a published-terms quote rather than instead of one.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. The SBA page publishes programs and process rather than rates: 7(a) to $5 million with terms to 25 years and, in its own words, flexible terms with less money down. The note that any 7(a) under $500,000 allows SBA credit scoring for faster processing and funding; SBA Express to $500,000; and the 504 alongside. The FOIA loan file places it second in Montana's change-of-ownership top-five, third in South Dakota, and fifth in Oregon across the file's six years.
- Best For
- Buyers in Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, or the Pacific Northwest who want a Preferred Lender worked through a local SBA team rather than a national remote desk
- Track Record
- Second in Montana's change-of-ownership top-five, third in South Dakota, fifth in Oregon across the file's six years.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Ten states on its own locator: Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming, from its Billings headquarters. Three are change-of-ownership top-fives in our file. It lends beyond the states it names, so one it does not name is worth asking about rather than ruling out.
- Approval Authority
- Says it holds SBA Preferred Lender status, so it can approve the loan itself rather than sending the file to the agency for a second look.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Publishes no floor. Most of this shelf gives a ceiling that is really the agency's own cap, and no minimum at all.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- 7(a) to $5M over 25 years with less money down in its own words; sub-$500k loans ride the SBA's credit-scoring fast lane.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Acquiring an existing business is the first use its 7(a) section names, which most regional banks bury
- Says plainly that sub-$500,000 loans ride the SBA's credit-scoring fast lane, a processing fact few pages surface
- A Preferred Lender with a dedicated local SBA team, in its own words
- In three states' change-of-ownership top-fives in the FOIA loan file, so the book is real where its branches are
Cons
- No published rates or timelines; the page is programs and process, not a quote
- No enumerated footprint on its own pages, so where it can actually lend to you starts as a question for the banker
- A branch-relationship model rather than a built-for-remote process
- No searcher-community footprint to weigh against its own claims
What Searchers Say
The program facts are its own SBA page's; the history is its own company page's, founded 1968 from Sheridan, Wyoming and headquartered in Billings, Montana, grown by de novo openings and bank acquisitions. Its pages state no current list of operating states, so none is asserted here. The FOIA loan file independently places it in Montana's, South Dakota's, and Oregon's change-of-ownership top-fives.
How to Approach
First Interstate Bank (SBA lending) is a bank, so this is how that kind of lender comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A prequalification on you and the target, often from the first email.
- A full application and the bank's own underwrite of the deal.
- A term sheet, then closing on the SBA's timeline, commonly two to four months.
What It Weighs
- Whether the business's cash flow covers the debt with room to spare.
- Your experience relative to the business you are buying.
- Your equity injection and how clean the financials are.
How to Prepare
- Model the payment and coverage before you call. SBA Acquisition Calculator
- Underwrite the specific deal end to end. Underwrite a Deal
- Show where every dollar comes from and goes. Sources & Uses Builder