Nevada Approves $35 Million For Small Business Credit Initiative for Next Three Years

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This week, the Nevada Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee (IFC) has approved $35,229,235 for the next three years in federal U.S. Department of the Treasury funds to the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) 2.0 program, as a response to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The $35 million represents the first phase of the $105 million SSBCI 2.0 program. The United States Treasury is expected to announce approval for the plan that the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) has submitted.

“This first phase of funding will hopefully lead to up to $105 million over the entire duration of the program to bolster our small business owners,” said Governor Steve Sisolak.

Nevada will be eligible for additional funding when it reaches US Treasury’s deployment requirements of 80 percent of the first phase. The first phase must be fully deployed after three years and the second tranche after the following three years. IFC’s action allows Nevada to receive the first tranche of funding once US Treasury completes Nevada’s application process.

The State Business Credit Initiative was created by The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, and Nevada’s allocation was $13.8 million. In 2017, the US Treasury transferred the program to state ownership. On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed The American Rescue Plan Act, which reauthorized and funded the SSBCI. The new version of the SSBCI program provides $10 billion to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to support small businesses.

In Nevada, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development will receive SSBCI 2.0 funds of up to $105.6 million with a potential incentive portion of $7.2 million for socially and economically disadvantaged individuals small businesses. The new 2.0 program represents a 10-year strategic investment in Nevada’s small business.

“SSBCI 2.0 is a successor to the 2010/11 SSBCI program when Nevada received $13.8 million,” said Karsten Heise, GOED Senior Director of Strategic Programs and Innovation. “Nevada’s SSBCI Program has been administered by GOED and consists of a Collateral Support Program and a Venture Capital Program component. The Venture Capital component is managed through the Nevada Battle Born Growth Escalator, Inc. a corporation for public benefit with 501(c)3 status created by AB 17 in the 2015 Legislative Session. For this new iteration of SSBCI we will substantially broaden the Program’s scope to include a total of five components which will increase our ability to support small businesses tremendously. All components will launch by January 2023”

The proposal garnered wide-ranging support at the IFC meeting, with comments in support from agencies, including but not limited to: