Governor Tom Wolf announced that Pennsylvania has awarded $246.8 million in American Rescue Plan funding, through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), to local economic development partners to make direct equity investments and loans to small businesses to spur success and job creation opportunities across the commonwealth.

“The dollars awarded today will help businesses that are small, socially and economically disadvantaged, and those in the innovation and technology sector grow and thrive,” said Gov. Wolf. “This funding aligns perfectly with my continued commitment to support businesses in Pennsylvania.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) is responsible for distributing the funds to eligible economic development partners who will administer the funding to qualifying businesses.

Funding was distributed equitably across the commonwealth, taking population data and the organizations serving each county into consideration to ensure that eligible businesses – in all 67 counties across Pennsylvania – will have access to either loans or equity investments.

The Revolving Loan Fund program provides funding to economic development organizations to create or recapitalize revolving loan funds to support financing for Pennsylvania small businesses.

The Chester County Economic Development Council was awarded $20,000,000 to support small businesses in Chester County.

Read more about other counties that received awards here.