Why Big Brands Are Offering Big Funds to Small BusinessesSmall businesses are cashing in from corporate loans and grants.

For Jane Yuan, the owner of Seattle-based Simple & Crisp, an order from Whole Foods Market to sell her dried-fruit crackers nationally was the opportunity of a lifetime. But she didn't have the money to buy two additional dehydrators at $17,000 a pop, which she'd need to scale up and fill those orders, as well as those from her other customers. "That became a cash-intensive launch," Yuan says, "and being a small business, we didn't have access to capital that quickly."

So she turned to Whole Foods' loan program, borrowing $37,000 for five years, at 5 percent interest. That was in 2014. She took a second loan from the retailer in 2015 for $50,000 at the same terms. Today, Simple & Crisp products sell in approximately 300 Whole Foods stores, as well as 100 other grocery and specialty-food shops nationwide.