The Pennsylvania CDFI Network, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (PA DCED) and 11 community development financial institutions (CDFIs), recently secured a $45 million allocation of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
The U.S. Department of Treasury created the SSBCI in 2021 to finance small businesses, especially very small and economically disadvantaged businesses.
The PA CDFI Network is a statewide collection of CDFIs that provide affordable loan and technical advisory services to companies unable to access financing through traditional channels.
The PA CDFI Network SSBCI Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) helps the smallest and most vulnerable businesses by allowing for recapitalization of the revolving loan funds CDFIs create.
“The goal of the PA-SSBCI RLF is to deploy SSBCI funds as soon as possible on a first-come, first-served basis,” PA CDFI Network CEO Varsovia Fernandez said. “Our member CDFIs are ready to assist small business owners throughout the commonwealth.”
Under the program, a private capital match is required that helps leverage relationships with banks, philanthropists, and social impact investors.
At a minimum, every $1 of the public investment made by the PA-SSBCI RLF program must “cause and result in” $1 of new private credit, Fernandez said.