U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo announced Thursday that Rhode Island Commerce has been awarded a $1.6 million grant to support small businesses in the construction, transportation, and renewable energy industries through the RI Rebounds Technical Assistance Program.
The grant, provided through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Investing in America Small Business Opportunity Program (SBOP), will help underserved and very small businesses in Rhode Island access financing opportunities. According to the delegation, Rhode Island’s application was chosen from a share of $75 million in federal funding nationwide.
This latest grant comes in addition to the $61.7 million in federal SSBCI funding secured by Reed and Whitehouse last year for small business growth and entrepreneurship in Rhode Island.
“This funding will provide critical technical assistance services to ensure even our state’s smallest entrepreneurs have the resources they need to grow and thrive,” said Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Liz Tanner. “I thank our state’s Congressional delegation and the Biden Administration for their continued support of our small businesses.”
The SSBCI program, reauthorized and expanded by the American Rescue Plan Act, provides nearly $10 billion to support small businesses and their access to capital for job creation.
BACKGROUND
Signed into law in 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act reauthorized and expanded SSBCI, which provides nearly $10 billion to support small businesses and help them the access the capital they need to invest in job-creating opportunities. SSBCI provides funds to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to promote entrepreneurship, support small business ownership, and democratize access to capital across the country, including in underserved communities.
Earlier this year, the Department of Treasury announced that Rhode Island was approved to use $773,624 in SSBCI allocation formula-based technical assistance grant funding to support RI Commerce in providing legal, accounting, and financial advisory services to underserved and very small businesses preparing to apply for support from state and/or federal small business programs, including connecting companies directly with the state’s SSBCI-supported capital programs.
A fact sheet summarizing the funding that Rhode Island and 13 other states received can be found HERE.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
