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HomeNewsArchivesEconomic Development Authority Issues $3M In Loan Guarantees

Economic Development Authority Issues $3M In Loan Guarantees

The Economic Development Authority has approved 24 loan guarantee support applications totaling $3 million to help small businesses through local banks that participate in the State Small Business Credit Initiative program, Government House announced Thursday evening.

The EDA currently guarantees up to 50 percent of the total loan amount applied for at SSBCI participating banks in the V.I. by local small business owners, according to Government House.

"One of the main reasons small businesses fail is due to their lack of access to capital," EDA Chief Executive Director Percival Clouden said in the statement from Government House. These loan guarantees will help small businesses get that capital.

Under the USVI’s SSBCI Program, loan guarantees enable small businesses to obtain term loans or lines-of credit. If approved, the VIEDA provides banks with a percentage guarantee as security for the loan or line of credit. The USVI’s SSBCI loan enhancement programs include the Collateral Support Program; Credit Guarantee Program; and the Payment, Surety, and Performance Bond Program.

The USVI State Small Business Credit Initiative Program is a loan and bonding program to help small businesses, and create jobs and tax revenue.

The State Small Business Credit Initiative is a federal loan guarantee program under the U.S. Department of the Treasury which was funded with $1.5 billion to strengthen state programs that support private financing to small businesses and small manufacturers. In 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department awarded the territory $13.1 million to the territory for the purpose.

For more information on the U.S. Virgin Islands State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), you may contact Abraham Edwards or Monique T. Samuel at 340.773.6499, ext. 248 and 246. To learn more about the SSBCI, visit http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sb-programs/Pages/ssbci.aspx.

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