Arkansas Awards Money to Grow Small Business
Small businesses in Arkansas benefit from some money from the U.S. Treasury.The U.S. Treasury Department’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) today released a new quarterly report showing that Arkansas has deployed $12,387,301 to grow small businesses. Arkansas is a leading state in deploying these funds to local lenders and small businesses. Today’s report also notes that states have expended, obligated, or transferred $835 million through the Treasury Department’s SSBCI program to support small business lending and investments across the country.
"The U.S. Treasury Department, states, and private sector lenders are investing in local communities to help drive economic growth, and these efforts are supporting small businesses in Arkansas,” said the U.S. Treasury Department’s Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin. “Small businesses are at the forefront of the nation’s economic recovery, and the State Small Business Credit Initiative provides entrepreneurs and small business owners with access to the resources they need to grow and create jobs.”
Arkansas has deployed 94 percent of its total $13,168,350 in SSBCI funds through the Arkansas Development Finance Authority (ADFA). The state has participated in the SSBCI program since 2011, and ADFA is using these resources to leverage greater levels of private lending and venture capital investment to small businesses. ADFA has made 98 SSBCI capital commitments as of December 2013, via micro-loans, direct loans, loan guarantees and venture capital programs. Additional capital commitments will be made through loan repayments and return on investments.
“The flexibility of the SSBCI program helps small creditworthy businesses obtain the capital they need to expand and create jobs in Arkansas,” said Gene Eagle, President of ADFA. “ADFA has used this program to support a wide variety of businesses including manufacturers and high-tech startups. Additionally, we’d like to thank the private lenders and investors who also support these companies. This success is only possible because of our partnership with the lending and investment community.”
Through SSBCI, the U.S. Treasury Department will award up to $1.5 billion to fund programs that support small businesses including small manufacturers. To date, more than $1 billion has been deployed to states and municipalities. SSBCI funds are not repaid to the federal government; they remain with the state to be redeployed to support even more small business development locally. To date, states have reported recycling more than $14.7 million, and this number is expected to grow as the program continues. Additionally, 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.
SSBCI was created when President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 on September 27, 2010. To build on the momentum of the program’s success, and capitalize on new working relationships among 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.
For more information on SSBCI and Treasury’s other small business programs, please visitwww.treasury.gov/smallbusiness. For more information on the Arkansas Development Finance Authority SSBCI programs, please visit www.arkansas.gov/adfa/SSBCI/SSBCI.htm.
More From Eagle 106.3
