MEDIA RELEASE

The U.S. Treasury Department announced today that Hawaii has received $4,477,238 in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funds to help small businesses access the capital they need to grow and create jobs.

To date, $13,168,350 in SSBCI funds have been disbursed to the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation to support businesses and the local economy.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz lauded the U.S. Treasury for its strong support of Hawaii’s small businesses.

“Small business owners are some of the hardest working people in our state and are vital to Hawaii’s economy,” said Senator Schatz. “Since 2010, these Treasury Department funds have supplied Hawaii small businesses with more than $13 million of capital, providing small business owners with added leverage to create jobs, grow our local economy, and compete in a global market. ”

The Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation (HSDC) is an agency of the State of Hawaii established in 1990 to promote economic development and economic diversification in Hawaii through a return driven investment program in partnership with private capital.

Through SSBCI, the U.S. Treasury Department will award up to $1.5 billion to fund state programs across the country that support small businesses including small manufacturers. SSBCI funding is not repaid by participating states to the federal government.

Instead, to help even more small businesses, repaid loans and investments remain with participating states to be redeployed locally.

The program is designed to help spur new private sector lending or investment in small companies by leveraging private capital along with the federal support offered by the program.

SSBCI was created when President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 on Sept. 27, 2010.

To build on the momentum of the program’s success and capitalize on new working relationships among states and small business lenders and investors, President Obama proposed an extension of SSBCI in his 2015 Budget with an additional $1.5 billion in funding.