California has been awarded $10 million in federal funds to help small businesses grow and hire more employees, announced the U.S. Treasury Department Oct. 7.
“With this new funding, California will be able to provide one-on-one support to help entrepreneurs seize new opportunities created by state investments in infrastructure and innovation,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.
The California Office of the Small Business Advocate will use the funds to support small business growth through the Biden administration’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Investing in America Small Business Opportunity Program (SBOP). California’s initiative will be supported by $16.25 million in matching funds.
Part of the administration’s economic agenda, the $75 million program provides funding to connect underserved and very small businesses to the capital needed to participate in key Investing in America supply chains, including electric vehicle manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing, construction, transportation, and clean energy generation, among others.
The SBOP was designed to catalyze additional private sector investment by supporting small business technical assistance services, such as accounting and legal services.
“The Biden-Harris administration’s economic agenda is focused on continuing the historic small business boom by helping small businesses across the country grow and hire,” Adeyemo said.
Congressional lawmakers representing the state and others commended the award to California.
California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis called the $10 million investment “a huge win” for the state’s small businesses.
“By supporting California’s efforts to provide essential resources, technical support, and access to capital, this investment will ensure our state remains at the forefront of economic growth and innovation, especially for small businesses owned by women and people of color,” said Kounalakis.
“America’s small businesses are the engine of our economy, and as I often say, there is nothing more optimistic than starting a small business,” said U.S. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “As Speaker, I was proud to partner with President Biden and lead House Democrats in delivering transformative investments for our small businesses and I’m thrilled to join in celebrating this federal funding to bring those investments to California.”
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) added that the funding will go a long way in ensuring that small businesses across California not only know about billions of dollars in low-cost federal and state financing available to them, but also receive any technical assistance necessary to apply for these funds.
“California’s small businesses, and especially its diverse-owned businesses, are too often ignored by our traditional banking system, but through this program can receive critical capital financing to better serve their communities,” said Waters.
The California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) is “honored and grateful” that the Treasury Department chose its application, said CalOSBA Director Tara Lynn Gray.
“Our proposal is designed to complement both the existing federal investment in our Technical Assistance for Capital Readiness Program and state-level investment from Gov. Newsom’s administration in our Accelerate California program,” Gray said. “The team at CalOSBA is tasked with diversifying California’s innovation economy and increasing small business participation in state contracting, both of which will be greatly assisted by this new funding.”
In addition to today’s announcement, Treasury has announced the approvals of SSBCI Technical Assistance grants allocated by formula to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and tribal governments, representing $145 million for 48 jurisdictions. The department said it also anticipates additional approvals of applications to follow.