WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) highlighted the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA)’s $4.8 million award to support small business growth. This award is one of 14 recently announced through the Biden-Harris Administration’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Investing in America Small Business Opportunity Program (SBOP). Mississippi’s initiative will be supported by $2.2 million in matching funds from Innovate Mississippi.
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic agenda, this $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, clean energy generation, and more. The SBOP was designed to catalyze additional private sector investment by supporting small business technical assistance services like accounting and legal services.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s economic agenda is focused on continuing the historic small business boom by helping entrepreneurs across the country succeed,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “With this new funding, Mississippi will increase access to capital and customers for both high growth startups and Main Street small businesses, and will allow businesses to seize new opportunities created by investments in advanced manufacturing.”
“Today’s announcement to fund critical small business technical assistance programs will help ensure that more small businesses can thrive, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration plan that is powering a small business boom with a record 19 million new business applications so far,” said National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard.
"This award is an opportunity to increase small business participation in Mississippi. It's very much needed, and I look forward to full-throated engagement with the small business community”, said U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson.
“Small business is the backbone of the Mississippi economy, and these federal funds will further enhance Mississippi’s already strong support of this part of our economy,” said Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director Bill Cork.
MDA was selected for the SBOP award through a competitive process. MDA will work alongside the Mississippi Small Business Development Center Network (MSBDCN) and Innovate Mississippi (Innovate MS) to assist Mississippi companies in preparing for growth funding. Using this $4.8 million, as well as $2.2 million in matching funds from Innovate Mississippi, MDA will launch ConnectMS, a project aimed to address gaps in the state's entrepreneurial ecosystem, focusing on helping very small businesses (VSBs) and underserved businesses prepare to raise capital.
The ConnectMS project will span all of Mississippi’s 82 counties, utilizing state-wide regional clusters to scale business programming and increase access to capital for startups and VSBs. The project will include a five-step approach, which includes the FoundersPlus and CoBuilders Accelerator. FoundersPlus will offer entrepreneurial education and a weekly webinar series, and the CoBuilders Accelerator will provide a multi-week virtual program that will support access to venture capital for startups. The program will also establish a Virtual Small Business Incubator, helping traditional businesses access funding through workshops, one-on-one counseling, pitch events, and tailored technical assistance.
Selected SBOP jurisdictions will build or expand technical assistance programs focused on connecting very small and underserved businesses to financing available through SSBCI, or other state or federal small business programs, including in the infrastructure, manufacturing, clean energy, or climate resiliency space. Jurisdictions have been selected based on their plans to create innovative, high-impact models of small business technical assistance delivery that demonstrate a vision to improve access to capital for historically overlooked businesses across the nation.
A fact sheet summarizing all 14 SBOP awards can be found here.
The American Rescue Plan Act reauthorized and expanded SSBCI, which provides nearly $10 billion to support small businesses and empower them to access the capital needed to invest in job-creating opportunities. SSBCI provides funds to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments to promote American entrepreneurship, support small business ownership, and democratize access to capital across the country, including in underserved communities. Through the SSBCI Capital Program, Treasury has approved plans for small business financing programs totaling over $8.7 billion and representing every state and territory, the District of Columbia, and 280 Tribal governments.
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. Treasury anticipates additional approvals of applications to follow. See the full list of approved formula SSBCI Technical Assistance programs here.
