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WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that Empire State Development is being awarded $9.4 million to support small business growth in the thriving semiconductor and microelectronics industries through the Biden-Harris Administration’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Investing in America Small Business Opportunity Program (SBOP).This award will be supported by $1.5 million in matching funds from Empire State Development. 

Part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic agenda, this program provides funding to connect underserved and very small businesses to the financing 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. 

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s economic agenda is driving historic investments, creating new opportunities for small businesses to grow and hire,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “With this funding, New York will help entrepreneurs across the state access capital and scale their operations in these critical industries that are key to strengthening our supply chains and national security.” 

“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.  

“Innovation, cutting-edge research, and creativity can be found in every community across America. Between today’s announcement from the Treasury Department and Commerce’s groundbreaking Tech Hubs program, President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is supercharging the potential of upstate New York to create good-paying jobs and bolster U.S. global competitiveness,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “This investment enables the NY SMART-I Corridor Tech Hub to facilitate greater access to the credit, capital and opportunity that small and minority-owned businesses need to seize these opportunities to grow and thrive.” 

“New York has become a global leader in high-tech manufacturing – and we’re just getting started,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “This $9.4 million investment from the State Small Business Credit Initiative will be critical as we work to connect underserved and very small businesses with the resources they need to succeed. Working with the Biden-Harris Administration, we’re creating even more jobs and opportunities for all New Yorkers.” 

“This major $9.4 million in federal funding will help provide critical technical assistance to small businesses across Upstate NY who want to grow in the semiconductor industry but can’t do it alone. This is how we maximize the benefit of companies like Micron, GlobalFoundries, and Wolfspeed’s expansions in Upstate NY, helping existing businesses grow and adapt to lead in the next frontier of technology. This will help boost efforts along the I-90 Tech Hub I secured and help Upstate NY build a robust supply chain from Buffalo to Utica to Albany that further positions Upstate NY as a global center for chip manufacturing, an effort I have been proud to work on with the Biden-Harris Administration,” said U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. “I fought to secure historic funding for the State Small Business Credit Initiative in the American Rescue Plan and worked with Secretary Yellen to prioritize funding for supply chain development, including in the semiconductor industry, because I know that support for small businesses is critical to our efforts to bringing manufacturing back home to America. Today’s federal investment further supercharges Upstate NY’s growing semiconductor superhighway!” 

“This federal award will be transformative for small and underserved businesses across New York,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “It will strengthen our economy and cement New York’s reputation as a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation. I’m proud to have fought to pass the American Rescue Plan that provided the funds to make this grant possible, and I’ll continue working for federal investments that support small businesses, create good jobs, and develop our workforce.” 

“Under Governor Hochul, New York is leading the nation in new semiconductor industry investment, and now, with additional federal support, we are poised to further scale up the state’s broader billion-dollar advanced manufacturing ecosystem,” said Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight. “US Treasury’s award enables ESD to expand the economic opportunities created by Upstate’s booming semiconductor sector to small businesses in underserved communities through our innovative Semiconductor Growth Access Program, which offers critical capital access and technical assistance so entrepreneurs can focus on the important work growing their businesses and creating jobs.” 

New York was selected for the SBOP award through a competitive process. Using this $9.4 million, as well as $1.5 million in matching funds, Empire State Development will launch the Semiconductor Growth Access Program (SGAP), an initiative designed to support very small and underserved businesses, with a focus on the state’s semiconductor and microelectronics industry. This program will provide targeted technical assistance (TA) in the areas of legal, financial, and accounting services, to very small businesses and underserved entrepreneurs.  

SGAP will focus on capacity building, helping local businesses prepare to secure capital and scale their operations. The program will provide in-person support that will include regular meetings and business development workshops, enabling local companies to gain direct access to industry leaders, state officials, and experts in the semiconductor supply chain. Additionally, SGAP will create a shared regional purchasing roundtable of large manufacturers and tier 1 suppliers, designed to provide regular access to purchasing opportunities for participating businesses. SGAP will work alongside the Supply Chain Activation Network (SCAN), a project of the federal NY SMART-I Corridor Tech Hub, which supports local New York firms entering the semiconductor and microelectronics market.  

Partners in this initiative will include the NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub, Mohawk Valley EDGE (Economic Development Growth Enterprises Corporation), and the Capital Region Center for Economic Growth (CEG). 

Selected 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.   

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 programs here.  

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