–
Treasury will be hosting an informational briefing with USET/USET SPF member Tribal Nations to discuss the Small Business Credit Initiative (SBCI). The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2) provided $500 million for the SBCI program to be allocated among Tribal Nations to support financing for small businesses in Indian Country. SBCI funds may be used for small business financing programs such as capital access programs, loan participation, loan guarantee, collateral support, and venture equity programs. In addition to providing information about the program, Treasury is interested in hearing from the USET/USET SPF member Tribal Nations on potential uses of SBCI funds.
Details regarding the regional briefing are as follows—
Monday, August 9, 2021 from 11:00am to 12:00pm ET (join the Zoom meeting)
To join by telephone please use the following dial-in information—
The deadline for Tribal Nations to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to apply for the SBCI program is Friday, August 16, 2021 by 5:00pm ET, and applications for the SBCI program will be due to Treasury on December 11, 2021. To complete an NOI Form for Tribal Governments, please click here.
The distribution of SBCI funds has been determined by available employment and economic data for each Tribal Nation.
For more information please visit Treasury’s SBCI website. Questions regarding the SBCI program can be directed to ssbci_information@treasury.gov. Additional guidance is forthcoming.
USET SPF submitted comments to the Department of the Treasury on June 4, 2021 expressing concern that Tribal Nations will not be able to fully access and utilize the program’s benefits, especially since private capital is required to fulfill the program’s matching fund requirements. We also requesting that SBCI funds be distributed to Tribal Nations equitably and not rely on a formula distribution methodology that focuses on Tribal Land base or population size. USET SPF further recommended flexibility in funding use for technical assistance, use of Tribally-certified data, and that Tribally-chartered corporations be eligible to receive SBCI funds.
Under the American Rescue Plan Act, EDA was allocated $3 billion in supplemental funding to assist communities nationwide in their efforts to build back better by accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks. This historic appropriation will support bottom-up, middle-out economic development projects and activities that are focused on advancing equity, creating good-paying jobs, helping workers to develop in-demand skills, building economic resilience, and accelerating the economic recovery for the industries and communities hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, July 23, EDA published six (6) separate Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) soliciting applications for its ARPA funds (view program summary chart). In order to help facilitate participation in these programs, EDA will host a series of webinars for EDA grantees and partners beginning on August 2. Below are links to each individual program web page and registration information for each webinar.
EDA will also host an EDA 101 and American Rescue Plan webinar on Wednesday, August 4 at 2pm Eastern (register).