Portsmouth has built and repaired ships since before the Revolution, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard is still the city's economic anchor. Add the container traffic at Virginia International Gateway and the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, the restaurants and galleries of Olde Towne and High Street, and the neighborhood businesses of Churchland and Cradock, and you have a compact city with a lot of different cash cycles. Anchorvia Financial, based in Newport News, helps Portsmouth owners sort through small business loans, credit lines, equipment financing and the city's own programs.
Portsmouth's working economy
Shipyard suppliers and subcontractors. Machine shops, electrical and pipefitting subcontractors, environmental services, staffing and tool suppliers support the naval shipyard and the private yards nearby. Federal contract work pays reliably, but timing depends on the prime and the contract terms, and a big new task can mean weeks of costs before the first payment.
Port and trucking. Drayage firms, chassis repair shops, freight forwarders and warehouses near the terminals and along the Western Freeway deal with fuel, tolls, tires and insurance that come due well before customers pay.
Healthcare. Practices, pharmacies, home-care agencies and medical staffing firms serving the naval hospital and the community wait on insurers and government payers.
Olde Towne and High Street. Restaurants, coffee shops, salons and boutiques that live on downtown foot traffic, ferry riders, events at the pavilion and the summer waterfront season.
Funding that matches the work
- Line of credit: for a subcontractor bridging the weeks between mobilizing and getting paid, or a downtown shop smoothing a slow winter.
- Equipment financing: welding machines, lathes, trucks, chassis, salon stations or commercial kitchen equipment, typically secured by the equipment.
- Term and SBA-backed loans: buying a building in Olde Towne, expanding a shop, or acquiring a business from a retiring owner.
- Merchant cash advance: not a loan. The funder buys a share of your future receipts and collects a percentage, or a fixed daily or weekly amount, until the agreed total is delivered. It may suit a busy restaurant or salon with a short, specific need, but it's usually the highest-cost option, and it fits poorly with contract revenue that arrives in lumps. See our merchant cash advance guide and check any offer in the MCA calculator. If you already have an advance, read what to ask about early payoff before adding anything.
Portsmouth's own programs
The Portsmouth Economic Development Authority has some of the most practical small business programs in the region:
- EDA Small Business Revolving Loan Fund: low-interest loans for Portsmouth-based businesses, with business coaching, administered by Bridging Virginia, a community development lender. Uses include working capital, equipment, inventory, improvements and securing contracts.
- Smart Start Business Development Grant: a small grant for new and recently established Portsmouth businesses.
- Smart Start Business Acceleration Grant: a matching reimbursement grant for established small businesses ready to grow.
- Portsmouth business incentives: the city's full incentive list. Several parts of Portsmouth are federal HUBZones, which can help qualifying firms win federal contracts.
- Virginia APEX Accelerator: free help pursuing shipyard and other government contracts.
Grant rounds open on a set schedule each fiscal year, so check current dates with Portsmouth Economic Development. Our guide to Hampton Roads small business loans and grants lists every program across the region.
A shipyard example
An eight-person electrical subcontractor in Churchland wins a scope of work supporting a shipyard project. It needs two more electricians and a service truck, and the prime pays about 45 days after each monthly invoice. A workable plan: equipment financing for the truck, a line of credit sized to roughly two months of added payroll, and a check on whether the business qualifies for HUBZone status for future bids. If the owner fits the EDA loan fund's purpose and timing, that may cover part of the need at a lower cost.
Getting your paperwork in shape
Lenders and the EDA fund ask for many of the same things: three to six months of business bank statements, a year-to-date profit and loss statement, last year's return, and a list of anything you already owe. Contractors should add the subcontract and an aging report. Downtown retailers and restaurants should add their lease and a simple monthly sales history, so a reviewer can see the summer peak and the winter dip. Separate business and personal accounts make every review faster.
Nearby
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