In the US there is a Small Business mentor Protege Program which also assists in setting up financial resource related contacts which may be of interest to the small business US communities. see: http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/management/dcfo/osdbu/mentor-protege/

In my discussions with inquiring project owners I have often found that they are not aware of this; it may be cumbersome but one should look at it before dismissing such assistance.

this has come up as a double posting due to the hick up of the server, I can not delete it, somewhere around the turn of the year they excluded that button.