treasury

The national picture of how 46 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands chose to allocate $7.9 billion approved so far by the U.S. Treasury to spend through the nation’s second go at the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) is getting clearer. Equity and venture capital programs—often important financing tools for high growth and innovation-oriented companies—have garnered approximately $2.9 billion, across 79 equity/venture capital programs, based on a Treasury-generated list of all programs and allocations and SSTI analysis of press releases. The remainder of the total approved is distributed across 110 credit support programs.

From the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the Department of the Treasury, the White House budget, and Congress, various stakeholders across the federal government have proposed multiple regulations in the past several weeks that would affect the venture capital industry in general and, in some cases, venture development organizations. We offer a brief roundup of these issues.

U.S. Department of the Treasury recently awarded $125 million to 43 nonprofits and community-based organizations, including SSTI member University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The money came via the American Rescue Plan Act- (ARPA-) funded (CRP) Capital Readiness Program. The CRP enables small businesses to access technical assistance through organizations that provide services to underserved businesses.

This week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury approved the state of Mississippi and 15 Tribal Governments for State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) awards. Mississippi is receiving $86 million to launch four programs, including a $15 million fund investment program and an $11 million direct investment program. Treasury approved the funding of six venture capital programs from the awards to Tribal Governments: Chickasaw Nation ($8.0 million), Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope ($2.9 million), Ninilchik Village ($0.7 million), Levelock Village ($0.6 million), Redding Rancheria ($0.6 million), and Osage Nation (VC program amount not specified from the $5.1 million total award).

The U.S. Department of Treasury has announced its approval of $801.4 million in SSBCI funding for eleven U.S. states and territories: Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Kentucky, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The addition of these states and territories means 46 states and three territories have been approved for State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding. Treasury has now approved over $7 billion in SSBCI funding. This news comes alongside the upcoming two-year anniversary of the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced that the government will begin taking applications May 31 for the first $4 billion of the $10 billion Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit program and tax break for solar-and-wind projects in low-income communities. This credit is part of the Inflation Reduction Act and will be available for projects including manufacturing fuel-cell components, adding carbon-capture equipment to existing facilities or processing critical minerals. The department announced $1.6 billion of the initial funding round will be reserved for places where coal mines or coal-fired power plants have closed.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced 11 additional states whose SSBCI plans have been approved: Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Utah. This is in addition to the 20 states that have been approved this year: California, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, West Virginia, Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Colorado, Montana, New York, North Carolina and Oregon. Funds aim to make capital more accessible for underserved communities and increase economic growth and opportunity.