To date, $13,168,350 in SSBCI funds has been disbursed to the US Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority to support small businesses and the local economy. Photo: Internet Source

To date, $13,168,350 in SSBCI funds has been disbursed to the [US] Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority to support small businesses and the local economy.

“Small businesses are the nation’s leading job creators, and the State Small Business Credit Initiative connects sources of capital to the small businesses that need it,” said Jeffrey Stout, director of SSBCI. “The funds announced today will continue to support loans and investments in the Virgin Islands’ small businesses.”

The US Virgin Islands has deployed more than $9.6 million in SSBCI funds to local businesses. Nationally, the Treasury Department has disbursed more than $1.3 billion in SSBCI funds to participating states, municipalities, and territories since the beginning of the programme. Through the end of 2015, SSBCI funds spurred more than $8 billion in private sector lending and investments to small businesses. Participants have generated $8.15 in private sector lending and investments for every $1 of federal support. Business owners reported that these funds will help them retain or create more than 190,000 jobs.

Currently, SSBCI is set to end in 2017, and states have already drawn down 93 percent of the funding. To build on the momentum of the program’s successes and capitalise on new working relationships among states, small business lenders, and investors, President Barack H. Obama proposed an extension of SSBCI in his Fiscal Year 2017 Budget request with an additional $1.5 billion in funding. A new authorisation of the SSBCI programme will keep local economic development efforts strong and allow states to continue supporting small businesses, job creation, and greater levels of private lending and investments.

For more information on SSBCI and Treasury’s other small business programmes, please visit www.treasury.gov/smallbusiness. For more information on the SSBCI programme in the US Virgin Islands, please visit: www.usvieda.org