Government: deepest pockets can deliver dough in a pinch.

Overview: Nobody has bigger pockets than Uncle Sam and for desperate borrowers over the years--big and small--he has provided some salvation.

Two decades ago, former Chrysler Corp. chief Lee Iacocca went hat in hand to the government and walked away with $1.2 billion in federal loans that saved the failing company. Later in the decade, there was the multi-billion dollar bailout of the savings and loan industry.

More recently, U.S. airlines were propped up by $15 billion in federal handouts--cash and loan guarantees--after 9/11, although that has not prevented some carriers from seeking bankruptcy court protection.

A business, of course, doesn't have to have high-powered Capitol Hill lobbyists to benefit from the public largess. Smaller businesses turned down for standard commercial loans because of credit problems can find the going a lot easier with the Small Business Administration.

Throughout the 1990s, the SBA assisted nearly 435,000 small businesses for $95 billion in loans, dwarfing the size of the big industry bailouts, with the Los Angeles office tops in the nation with $1 billion in loans and loan guarantees.

One SBA role is to lend to victims of natural disasters, such as the Northridge Earthquake a decade ago. The Federal Emergency Management Agency dispenses funds for non-profits but is prohibited from assisting for-profit businesses. Help also comes from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which lends at favorable terms.

Lenders: When it comes to those big industry bailouts there is often a direct line to the U.S. Treasury, such as when Congress passed specific legislation to approve the loan guarantees given to Chrysler.

But when the disaster gets even larger, such as the $300 billion-plus bailout of the savings and loan industry, intermediaries are created to manage the process. In the case of the S&Ls, it was the Resolution Trust Corp.; more recently, the airlines have been dealing with the Air Transportation Stabilization Board.

Companies with less than perfect credit histories can go to the 100 or so local banks that participate in the SBA's core 7(a) guaranteed loan program. Among top local lenders are U.S. Bank, Wilshire State Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.

For last-chance help, the Valley Economic Development Center in Van Nuys and FAME Renaissance, an arm of the First AME Church of Los Angeles, dispense loans of up to $35,000 through a special SBA micro-program.

Borrowers: When it comes to big bailouts, the granddaddy of local borrowers is actually the former Lockheed Aircraft Corp. The Burbank company was flying high until cost overruns from L-1011 jumbo passenger jet and other problems nearly put it out of business in 1971, prompting Congress to give it $250 million in loan guarantees.

Nearly 22,000 local businesses received $1.5 billion in SBA disaster loans after the Northridge Earthquake, while hundreds more received help through $30 million in loans funded by the EDA. More recently, all the major airlines serving Los Angeles International Airport and other regional airports were given a cut of the $4.5 billion in cash assistance directly following 9/11. United Airlines, the largest carrier at LAX, initially received $782 million.

Rates: It may be government money, but there are often still strings attached, whether the help is large or small.

Lockheed had to pay the government its administrative costs of the loan guarantees it received, with the government reportedly netting $31 million on the deal. And Chrysler wasn't bailed out until it turned over warrants to the government. Uncle Sam took in $330 million on that deal.

Initial help given to airlines after the 2001 terrorist attacks was in grants they won't have to pay back, but the rest of the package--$10 billion in loan guarantees--has been hard to come by. United got its request turned down by the Air Transportation Stabilization Board and entered into bankruptcy court protection.

Companies seeking SBA micro-loans will find themselves paying 5.5 points above prime these days.

Voices

Roberto Barrigan

President

Valley Economic Development Center

"We have lots and lots of pink slips. Let's say a business owner has a 1999 Acura. They are not going to want to see it, and frankly we have not repossessed many cars. This is L.A. and your car is your life."

Joanne Weinoe

Owner

Golden State Magnetic & Penetrant 

Lab Inc., Arleta

"We are a 13-year-old aerospace inspection company. Last year, we underwent computer sabotage by a former employee that cost us $300,000. A virus wiped out our hard drive and he stole our backups.

"We are showing major losses on the books because of this, and we are in a battle with our insurance company. What I needed was instant money and I got it a couple of weeks ago--a $35,000 SBA micro-loan.

"When you are in trouble nobody wants to give you money, but when you don't need it they are all there. That is the trouble with banks. I own my building, so (the Valley Economic Development Center) took a third trust deed on my building as collateral."

Miguel De Leon

Owner

De Leon Enterprises, Sun Valley

"We are a contract manufacturer of electronics. We suffered structural damage after the Northridge Earthquake but our customers suffered more damage and business dropped.

"We actually went out of business and I bought the assets of the company. I got $205,000 from the Valley Economic Development Corp. to restructure the business."