Jeff Fuentes Gleghorn
The U.S. Department of Treasury approved a $267.8 million plan for Pennsylvania small businesses. This money is part of the first round of $1.5 billion funding for small business development under Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act. The bill authorized $10 billion for small businesses across the country. Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) will be in charge of making the money available to small businesses in the state. The plan is to split the funds into three programs.
The first program will receive $125 million for a small business loan program. The DCED will choose local partners to distribute the loans by August 19 of this year. Once the partners are chosen, small businesses can apply for loans for up to 50 percent of their total financing. The rules to apply for loans in this program will be developed and released soon on the DCED website here.
The second and third programs will receive a combined $142 million, which will be put towards an equity capital investment program. These programs will give loans to companies run by disadvantaged people groups that plan to start or invest in Pennsylvania businesses. According to the DCED the business must be based in technology or another high-growth field like “life sciences, advanced manufacturing, or information technology.” A full list of requirements to apply for one of these loans can be found here.
