Nearly $202 million in federal funding coming to North Carolina is planned to support small businesses throughout the state through lending initiatives and equity investments in venture capital funds.
The N.C. Rural Center has been allocated this allotment of State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding to continue these programs by the US Treasury Department through the NC State Legislature’s recently passed budget.
WRAL reports the announcement was made on Friday morning at a roundtable held at the NC Rural Center in Raleigh.
This allocation is part of a second round of funding for SSBCI, an initiative first established by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that has since been managed by the NC Rural Center, and is now funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The N.C. Rural Center will partner with community banks, Community Development Financial Institutions, and equity fund managers directly to enhance small businesses ability to access the capital they need to grow their business, through three programs: Loan Participation Program (LPP), Capital Access Program (CAP), and the NC Venture Capital Program.
The center is in the process of relaunching each of these programs which will be sequenced out over the next several months. The new Loan Participation Program will launch first, by the end of August.
The new Capital Access Program will launch next, with the center targeting having this program available to access by the end of September.
The NC Venture Capital Program will launch last; the center anticipates releasing an RFP soliciting proposals from venture funds in October.