On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed The American Rescue Plan Act, which provided $10 billion to the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). SSBCI will fund state, territory, and Tribal government credit support and investment programs for small businesses. Colorado was allocated $76 million for these purposes. In Colorado these funds will be administered by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) in alignment with the Governor’s Office. Below, we are providing a preliminary set of possible uses to help generate stakeholder feedback on how the funds should be used and the program designed. We will continue to incorporate stakeholder feedback into the program.
While SSBCI allows for flexibility of small business loan and equity uses, all programs require 1-to-1 immediate deployment of private capital to federal funds for individual projects. Programs are expected to require a 10-to-1 ratio of private capital to federal funds over the entire portfolio of projects within each individual program. The 2022 SSBCI program rules are anticipated to be similar to 2009 program rules.
If you have questions about the program, please first read through OEDIT's SSBCI program page. We provide more details about the funding, which should answer most frequently asked questions.
Program plan being considered
| Program name | Description | Possible funding |
|---|---|---|
| Venture Capital Investments |
Investments would be administered by Venture Capital Authority in:
|
$20 to 30 million |
| Cash Collateral Support | Credit enhancements for loans to small businesses; this was the primary SSBCI program funded previously with great success in that 77% of loans supported were to very small businesses with fewer than 10 employees; administered by Colorado Housing and Finance Authority | $20 million |
| Colorado Credit Reserve | Pooled loan loss reserve credit enhancement for loans to small business customers; administered by Colorado Housing and Finance Authority | $10 million |
| CLIMBER Loans | Provide supplemental first or second loss capital to the CLIMBER loan program; administered by Colorado Housing and Finance Authority | $10 million |
| Colorado Startup Loan Fund | Provides loans and small grants to Colorado entrepreneurs and small business owners needing capital to start, restart, or restructure a business, and those who are not able to obtain a loan from traditional lenders; administered by OEDIT | unsure |
| Early Childhood Center Lease Guarantee Program | Support new and existing early childhood businesses by providing lease guarantee funding | unsure |
| Employee Ownership Credit Enhancement | Provide collateral to help guarantee loans made to groups of employees seeking to purchase a business | unsure |
| Loan Participation Program | Provide capital to participate in loans given out by traditional and non-traditional lenders who are seeking partners to complete deals | unsure |
There will also be an allocation of technical assistance dollars to support technical assistance programming. The size of this allocation for Colorado has not been determined and these uses for these funds are not shown on the table. Uses of technical assistance funds depend on the rules, not yet released by the U.S. Treasury Department but preliminarily include support for the Colorado Small Business Development Center Network.
Provide feedback on the plan
OEDIT has held numerous conversations with community stakeholders about these plans including with lender trade associations, non-profit lenders, CDFIs, banks and other lenders and community organizations, and received written suggestions and communications.
However, we would like to get more feedback from a wide range of stakeholders and community members regarding OEDIT’s plans for the use of federal SSBCI funding, please fill out our feedback form by October 15.
If you feel we’ve missed any important institutions or groups, please let us know through our feedback form so that we can include them in this process. We are open to receiving written feedback or scheduling time for a discussion.
OEDIT is committed to collaborating with the broader Colorado community to make sure our federal funding allocation reaches every corner of our state and diverse communities in Colorado.
Receive updates about the program
If you'd like to stay updated on this program, sign up for OEDIT's monthly newsletter. We provide updates about all of our programs, including the ones that will be funded by SSBCI.