Officials from the U.S. Treasury announced more than $86 million in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding for two dozen tribal governments during the White House Tribal Nations Summit last week.
The new funding amounts for tribes are in addition to $73 million announced in June of this year, targeting 39 tribal governments.
Overall, the Treasury has approved 33 tribal applications representing 63 tribal communities and more than $159 million in funding this year through the SSBCI program. The funding represents the largest-ever single investment in Native small businesses by the federal government, a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement to Tribal Business News.
Pete Upton, CEO of the Native CDFI Network, praised the Treasury for finding ways to make SSBCI work for Indian Country and emphasized the multiplier effect it would have on Native economies because of the program’s matching requirements. All jurisdictions, including tribes, must match SSBCI funds with private capital and aspire to leverage each dollar to attract 10 dollars in private financing.
“These are historic amounts of capital that are flowing into Indian Country,” Upton told Tribal Business News. “Leveraging that money is going to have a huge impact on Native communities, especially the tribal citizens who are entrepreneurs. SSBCI is going to increase their ability to get financing for small businesses tremendously.”
View the latest SSBCI funding grantees and read the full article from Tribal Business News here.
In 2022, the Native CDFI Network released a white paper which provides a detailed overview of the SSBCI Act and the Program it created, and how Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) can partner with tribal governments to ensure that Indian Country takes full advantage of the resources the Program provides and the benefits it can create.
Written by Native attorney Pilar M. Thomas of Quarles & Brady LLP, the white paper lays out four primary models through which Native CDFIs can partner with tribal governments to implement the SSBCI Program in and for the tribal communities they serve.