The State of Maryland will deploy up to $198 million in federal small business relief through the State Small Business Credit Initiative. Maryland was the first state in the nation to submit its SSBCI deployment plan to the United States Treasury Department, and was one of the first five states to be approved.
Initially established by Congress in 2010 to provide loans and investments to underserved small businesses, SSBCI received a $10 billion allocation as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The SSBCI funds will be administered by three state agencies, including the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, the Maryland Department of Commerce and the Maryland Technology Development Corp. (or TEDCO).
The funds from SSBCI will be used to augment existing business lending programs to support businesses with limited opportunities for growth whether due to the pandemic or historic disinvestment. Maryland’s statewide SSBCI initiatives will target communities and areas with a high concentration of small, micro and Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individual businesses to support ongoing state investments in underserved communities.
DHCD will receive up to $103 million and disburse the funds through the Neighborhood BusinessWorks program. The program provides financing to new and expanding small businesses impacting and operating within Maryland’s designated Opportunity Zones, Priority Funding Areas, and Sustainable Communities and Community Development Financing Institution Investment Areas, often through partnerships with local and national CDFIs.
The Maryland Department of Commerce will receive up to $45 million for the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority program.