The US Treasury announced Friday that Colorado has been granted $17.2 million in funds under a new law aimed at boosting the lending capacity for small businesses.
The Small Business Jobs Act has set aside $1.5 billion to allocate around the nation. The bill was passed in Congress last month, and president Obama last week signed the bill into law.
In a statement from the Treasury Department,
the money allocated is “for programs that partner
with private lenders to extend greater credit to small businesses.”
Furthermore, “States are required to demonstrate a minimum ‘bang for the buck’
of $10 in new private lending for every $1 in federal funding. Accordingly, the
$1.5 billion funding commitment that the federal government will make for this
program is expected to support $15 billion in additional private lending.”
The lending funds are being distributed under the State Small Business Credit Initiative, or SSBCI, which is a part of the new law. The SSBCI is modeled on a similar program in Colorado called the Colorado Credit Reserve Program, which in the last year has enabled $5.24 million in loans to small businesses in the state.
Overall the new law will make around $30 billion in funds available for local lenders to lend out to small businesses. The new law also create $12 billion in tax breaks for businesses and expands existing loan programs, such as the Small Business Administration loan plan.
The SSBCI will hopefully help to decrease jobless figures, as more small businesses expand.
