The US Treasury Department today announced the transfer of $4,477,238 in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funds to the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) to help local businesses access the capital they need to expand, grow and hire. Specifically, VEDA will use the funds to leverage greater levels of private lending to small businesses by partnering with local community banks. According to the most recent SSBCI quarterly report, participating states accelerated their expenditure, obligation or transfer of SSBCI funds in 2013, more than doubling the amount reaching small businesses or investment funds.
“The State Small Business Credit Initiative is partnering with Vermont to provide opportunities for new industries to take root, give start-ups a running start, and help existing small businesses grow,” said Cliff Kellogg, the Director of the State Small Business Credit Initiative at the U.S. Treasury Department. “Today’s award adds to the ongoing public-private partnership between the U.S. Treasury Department, VEDA, and local lenders. This effort will provide entrepreneurs and small business owners greater access to new sources of capital to help create jobs and promote economic growth in local communities.”
Vermont has participated in the SSBCI program since 2011, and the more than $4.4 million transferred this month is the third payment to VEDA. Including the third payment, Vermont has received more than $13 million to help support businesses and the local economy.
Total funds disbursed by Treasury through the SSBCI program reached $1 billion last year. To build on the momentum of the program’s success to date, and capitalize on new working relationships between states and small business lenders and investors, President Obama proposed an extension of SSBCI in his 2015 Budget with an additional $1.5 billion in funding. An extension would strengthen the federal government’s support of state economic development agencies, like VEDA, that are highly responsive to capital needs in local markets.
SSBCI was created when President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 on September 27, 2010. Through SSBCI, the U.S. Department of the Treasury awarded almost $1.5 billion to fund state programs that support small businesses and small manufacturers. The program is expected to help spur up to $15 billion in new private sector lending or investment in small companies by leveraging $10 in private capital for every dollar of federal support by the program’s end. Each state designs its own SSBCI programs to respond to local economic conditions. SSBCI currently supports over 60 existing and over 80 new small business support programs across 57 participating states, territories and municipalities.
For more information on SSBCI and Treasury’s other small business programs, please visit www.treasury.gov/smallbusiness
Source: VEDA 5.21.2014. www.veda.org.