Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced last week that it had approved five additional state and territory plans for up to $339 million in funding under the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).

One of those is Arkansas which was approved for up to $81.6 million. The plan calls for the operation of seven SSBCI programs: a capital access program, two loan participation programs, two loan guarantee programs, and two equity/venture capital (VC) programs. Arkansas allocated $15 million to a loan guarantee program and $7.5 million to a loan participation program that are each designed to reach underserved businesses. The equity/venture capital programs, allocated a combined $46 million, will target investments of $1 million in Arkansas-based high-growth companies raising venture capital and will capitalize seed- and early-stage venture funds focused primarily on investing in Arkansas-based companies.

The other approved programs include:

• Guam, approved for up to $58.6 million, to operate three programs: a loan guarantee, a collateral support, and an equity/venture capital program;
• Rhode Island, approved for up to $61.7 million, to operate three programs: a capital access program, a loan participation program, and an equity/venture capital program;
• The U.S. Virgin Islands, approved for up to $57.5 million, for four programs: a collateral support program, a loan participation program, and two loan guarantee programs and
• Wisconsin, approved for up to $79.1 million, to operate seven programs: a capital access program, a collateral support program, a debt/equity hybrid program, two loan participation programs, and two equity/venture capital programs.

When we published this article in early January, four of our neighbors – Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi – were awaiting official approval as was Tennessee. That’s now down to three neighbors and the Volunteer State. Meanwhile, the first of nine regional briefing sessions on “Fund Tennessee,” the name of the $117 million program funded by Tennessee’s expected SSBCI allocation, is Monday afternoon in Chattanooga.

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