Stearns Bank (USDA & SBA)

Stearns Bank is a full-service bank with branches in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona that lends nationally on the commercial side. Its programs cover SBA loans, USDA Rural Development loans, commercial real estate finance, affordable housing finance and equipment financing, alongside ordinary business, nonprofit and personal deposit accounts.

Borrowers come for business acquisition, growth and expansion financing, and the bank runs dedicated channels for equipment finance brokers and for dealers, vendors and manufacturers who want to finance their own customers. Section 179 equipment financing is promoted directly. The bank also operates Stearns Salaam Banking, a division offering sharia-compliant deposit accounts, construction financing and real estate acquisition and refinancing, with every product reviewed by an independent Sharia Supervisory Board that publishes its compliance certificates.

The bank describes itself as a majority women-owned business with an employee-ownership culture, and reports $1.2B in loans to entrepreneurs, $19M in community investments and $1M in charitable donations. It is a Member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender, publishes an annual Stearns Financial Services report, and partners with the OCC's Project REACh to support minority depository institutions. Community giving focuses on family health and wellness, shelter and housing, and youth academics, arts and athletics across Arizona, Florida and Minnesota.

The pages crawled name the loan programs but not rates, loan size ranges or eligibility thresholds, so confirm current USDA and SBA parameters with a lender before assuming a deal fits. Donation requests tied to an event need to arrive at least 90 days ahead, and the giving committee reviews applications every four to six weeks.