SHAHEEN ANNOUNCES $13 MILLION IN FUNDING TO HELP NEW HAMPSHIRE SMALL BUSINESSES ACCESS CREDIT

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) announced today that New Hampshire will receive $13 million to help small businesses access credit and create jobs through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), a U.S. Treasury Department program created by the Small Business Jobs Act.

SSBCI funding will support state small business lending programs that will leverage over $130 million in new loans to small businesses in New Hampshire.

“As a member of the Senate Small Business Committee and co-sponsor of the Small Business Jobs Act, I am confident these critical funds will help small businesses in the Granite State access the credit they need to grow and spur job creation” Shaheen said. “Individual states understand the unique needs of their small businesses and these funds will be used effectively to get the people of New Hampshire back to work.”

Shaheen was a strong advocate of the SSBCI in the Small Business Jobs Act and wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in May in support of New Hampshire’s application.

The SSBCI is a new $1.5 billion initiative included in the Small Business Jobs Act, which President Obama signed into law in October.  The funds strengthen state programs that leverage private lending to small businesses and manufacturers that are creditworthy but are not getting the loans they need to expand and create jobs.  To qualify for the grant, states had to show that each dollar in federal funding would leverage at least ten dollars in lending to small businesses. Accordingly, the $1.5 billion funding commitment that the federal government will make for this program is expected to support $15 billion in new lending nationwide.

For more information about the SSBCI, please visit this link.