State Small Business Credit Initiative Competitive Technical Assistance Program

 

Through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Investing in America Small Business Opportunity Program (SSBCI Investing in America SBOP), Treasury anticipates awarding $75 million for competitive grants to states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal governments (each a jurisdiction) that propose innovative and high-impact models for delivering technical assistance (TA) in the areas of legal, accounting, and financial advisory services to very small businesses (VSBs) and businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (SEDI-owned businesses), as those terms are defined in SSBCI guidance. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed under applicable law.

Active 21.034 Departmental Offices, Department of The Treasury B - Project Grants Not applicable. American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Section 3301, Public Law 117-2, 12 U.S.C. 5701 et seq.
The statutory authority for the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP is section 3009(e)(1) of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SSBCI statute), as added by section 3301(d) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) and codified at 12 U.S.C. § 5708(e)(1). State, U.S. Territories and possessions, State (includes District of Columbia, public institutions of higher education and hospitals), Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments Any jurisdiction that has been approved as a participating jurisdiction in the SSBCI Capital Program is eligible to apply. Jurisdictions that are not yet approved as participating jurisdictions in the SSBCI Capital Program, but that have submitted complete and timely SSBCI Capital Program applications (or are part of a joint Tribal government application), are also eligible to apply; however, to receive an award under the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP, a jurisdiction must be approved as a participating jurisdiction in the SSBCI Capital Program. In addition, the eligible applicant for a jurisdiction, which may be a specific department, agency, or political subdivision of the jurisdiction, will be required to submit a designation letter on official letterhead signed by the governor of the state or mayor of the District of Columbia, or governing official of the territory or Tribal government. For more information, see the "Applicant Letter of Designation" section of the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP NOFO. Groups of Tribal governments may apply jointly (i.e., in consortia). For additional requirements applicable to joint Tribal applications, please see TA Grant Program FAQ #3 "Can a Tribal affiliated entity or non-Tribal entity apply for a TA grant, sign a TA Grant Agreement, and implement the grant on behalf of a group of Tribal governments" under Section III. Eligible Recipients, Beneficiaries, and TA Providers at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/SSBCI-FAQs.pdf, which will apply to applications and grants under the relevant NOFO. States, territories, and the District of Columbia may not apply jointly, but an application from these applicants or from Tribal governments will receive more points if their TA program is designed to serve eligible small businesses on a regional basis as described in the NOFO. VSBs and SEDI-owned businesses that are applying for a jurisdiction's SSBCI Capital Program or other federal or other jurisdiction small business program. See the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP NOFO for the definitions of key terms applicable to the program, including VSB, SEDI-owned business, and eligible beneficiaries. Any jurisdiction that has been approved as a participating jurisdiction in the SSBCI Capital Program is eligible to apply. Jurisdictions that are not yet approved as participating jurisdictions in the SSBCI Capital Program, but that have submitted complete and timely SSBCI Capital Program applications (or are part of a joint Tribal government application), are also eligible to apply; however, to receive an SSBCI Investing in America SBOP award, a jurisdiction must be approved as a participating jurisdiction in the SSBCI Capital Program. An applicant must submit a complete an SSBCI Investing in America SBOP application to be considered for funding through Treasury's forthcoming application portal, instructions for which will be posted on Treasury's website. The SSBCI Investing in America SBOP NOFO will be posted on Grants.gov and on Treasury's website at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/small-business-programs/state-small-business-credit-initiative-ssbci. The components of the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP application are summarized in the "Application Procedures" section below. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program. Preapplication coordination is not applicable. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. An applicant must submit a complete application to be considered for funding through Treasury's forthcoming portal, instructions for which will be posted on Treasury's website. The SSBCI Investing in America SBOP NOFO will be posted on Grants.gov and on Treasury's website at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/small-business-programs/state-small-business-credit-initiative-ssbci. Required components of the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP application include: i. Applicant Letter of Designation ; ii. Delegation of Authority and Joint Tribal Applicant Designation Documentation (if applicable); iii. Program Design and Substance; iv. Budget Narrative; v. Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement/Cost Allocation Plan (if applicable); vi. Form SFLLL "Disclosure of Lobbying Activities" (if applicable): vii. Assurances of Compliance with Civil Rights Requirements; viii. SSBCI Investing in America SBOP Assurances and Certifications; and ix. Other Supporting Documentation (if applicable). An applicant must obtain, complete, and submit its application electronically through Treasury's Portal as described in the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP NOFO. Treasury will not accept paper, facsimile, or e-mail transmissions of applications unless the means of alternate submission has been approved in writing by Treasury prior to the application deadline. Treasury will only make exceptions to submission of applications through Treasury's Portal to accommodate applicants' accessibility requirements. Applicants needing to request such accommodation must contact Treasury at ssbci_information@treasury.gov (please reference "Investing in America SBOP" in the subject line). Regardless of submission method, all application materials must be submitted by the deadline. If an application is preliminarily identified to receive grant funding, Treasury may request that the applicant submit additional documents and information to allow Treasury to fully evaluate compliance with applicable rules and regulations. If the applicant provides the information and supporting documentation in a timely fashion and Treasury determines that the applicant and their proposal are fully compliant with applicable rules, regulations, and program requirements, including under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, its application may be considered for a final decision and award approval. Applicants that do not provide the additional information and supporting documentation in a timely fashion or that are deemed noncompliant with applicable rules, regulations, and program requirements will receive notification that their application was not successful. If an application is selected for funding, Treasury will issue a grant agreement for the applicant's signature that includes the award terms and conditions and special award conditions applicable to the award. Treasury intends to publish a standard template of the TA grant agreement on its website but will provide each selected applicant's specific and tailored award letter and grant agreement to the applicant's Authorized Representative. In accordance with 2 CFR 200.208, Treasury may impose specific award conditions on a recipient's award. By executing the grant agreement within the specified time, the applicant agrees to comply with all award terms and conditions. The applicant's Authorized Representative must review and accept the award agreement by signing it without modification within the specified timeframe. If the applicant fails to execute and return the grant agreement within this timeframe, Treasury may irrevocably withdraw the grant without any additional notification to the applicant. SSBCI Investing in America SBOP applications are due 60 calendar days from the date the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP application is available. Treasury will publish a separate notification when the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP application is published that specifies the application deadline and will update the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP NOFO accordingly. Not applicable. Not applicable. Not applicable. Treasury will conduct an initial eligibility and technical completeness review of all applications received by the application submission deadline. Applications received from ineligible entities will not be considered. Applications that do not contain all forms and required documentation may be deemed non-responsive and excluded from further consideration. Treasury expects all applicants to complete and include all required forms and documentation. However, Treasury, in its sole discretion, may determine that an omission is a technical deficiency if it can easily and quickly be rectified and therefore may continue its consideration of the application despite the deficiency, pending submission by the applicant of any missing materials or information. Merit reviewers, which may include but are not limited to Treasury personnel and other federal and non-federal subject matter experts, will evaluate SSBCI Investing in America SBOP applications based on the evaluation criteria detailed in the NOFO: o Proposed Goals and Proposed Solutions, which considers whether the applicant's proposed goals and solutions align with the assessed TA needs of small businesses in the project's service area to connect them with capital; o Organizational Capacity, which considers whether the applicant and any proposed project partners have the organizational capacity to succeed in connecting VSBs and SEDI owned businesses to small business programs; o Budget and Timeline, which considers all budget documents, including the proposed project budget using the line items of Form SF-424A and the budget narrative, as well as letters of support and leveraged matching funds commitments from project partners; and o Project Reach, which considers the defined project service area and identified project partners. Treasury, in its sole discretion, may use a statistical technique to normalize, aggregate, and group merit reviewers' quantitative evaluations (i.e., scores). The most highly ranked applications will be forwarded to senior-ranking federal employees, who will evaluate the application from merit review. During this process all advancing applications are evaluated based on merit review feedback, administrative compliance review, past performance, project scope, and budget. Senior leadership may also determine not to recommend a high-ranking application based on the results of the risk review described in 2 CFR ? 200.206(b), including performance under other federal awards. Senior leadership will also review the list of potential grant recipients to determine whether the pool of recipients collectively meets the following objectives: o Whether potential recipients' proposed project service areas represent broad geographic coverage throughout the United States, including a diversity of service area types (urban, rural, territory, and Tribal service areas); and o Whether potential recipients represent a range of sizes (by jurisdiction population) and poverty rates. Grants provided to recipients under the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP are for the provision of legal, accounting, and financial advisory services (i.e., TA services) intended to help VSBs and SEDI-owned businesses applying for SSBCI capital or for other federal or other jurisdiction programs that support small businesses. Such services include a wide variety of assistance throughout the business life cycle. Generally, the types of assistance will include Business/Commerce, Economic Development, and Training. Performance Reports: If awarded, Treasury anticipates that recipients will be required to submit progress performance reports annually in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.329, the reporting guidance, and the terms and conditions of the grant. OMB Control Numbers for progress performance reports are forthcoming. For progress performance reporting, recipients will be required to track and submit data on Treasury-specific data elements. Treasury anticipates publishing reporting guidance for the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP that is anticipated to be generally consistent with the reporting guidance for the formula-based SSBCI Formula TA Grant Program, which may be found on Treasury’s website at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/SSBCI-Technical-Assistance-Reporting-Guidance.pdf, with potential new or modified data elements specific to the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP. Treasury will clearly specify all reporting requirements specific to the program. All reports must be submitted in electronic format as specified in the reporting guidance and the terms and conditions of the award. Failure by a recipient to submit required reports to Treasury may be deemed a noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the grant agreement and may be subject to the recipient remedies for noncompliance set forth in 2 CFR 200.339 and incorporated by reference in the grant agreement. As part of its administration of this program, Treasury may conduct program evaluations. If so, Treasury may share performance data with evaluators, including but not limited to Treasury staff and outside parties contracted by Treasury. Treasury may also, for research purposes linked to improving outcomes, choose to share data with other federal partners, including but not limited to statistical agencies. For reporting or external data sharing, Treasury will, subject to applicable laws and regulations, withhold information that appears to be personally identifiable information (PII) and other sensitive information such as sensitive commercial or financial information associated with an individual person or business. Treasury anticipates that it will separately publish guidance setting out the reporting requirements for the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP. Not applicable. Recipients of SSBCI Investing in America SBOP funding shall maintain records and financial documents sufficient to evidence compliance with 12 U.S.C. ? 5708(e), Treasury's implementing regulations and guidance, and the Uniform Guidance's recordkeeping requirements at 2 CFR ?? 200.334-200.338, except as otherwise provided by the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP grant agreement, which will require recipients to maintain records applicable to the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP for a period of five years after all funds have been expended or returned to Treasury, whichever is later. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. The SSBCI Investing in America SBOP is a one-time program of limited duration. Treasury anticipates awarding grants under the SSBCI Investing in America SBOP that will have a performance period of up to three years. The obligation of recipients to perform and report on progress will expire as outlined in the terms and conditions of the grant agreement. Treasury anticipates up to 3 funding tranches. None/Not specified. United States Department of the Treasury Attn: State Small Business Credit Initiative
U.S. Department of Treasury/Departmental Offices
Washington, DC 20220 USA
SSBCI_Information@treasury.gov
Phone: 2026222000 https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/small-business-programs/state-small-business-credit-initiative-ssbci 20-0142-0-1-376 (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 22$0.00; FY 23 est $0.00; FY 24 est $75,000,000.00; - Treasury anticipates that it will make between 8 and 15 awards under SSBCI Investing in America SBOP, with individual awards ranging from $5 million to $10 million. Treasury anticipates that larger awards will have a regional focus that involves collaboration between jurisdictions. Actual amounts awarded may be higher or lower, including based on the availability of funds. Please see information on the following website: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/small-business-programs/state-small-business-credit-initiative-ssbci Not applicable.