The Department of the Treasury is celebrating a major milestone in tribal economic development, surpassing the $500 million mark in investments for small businesses and entrepreneurs in Indian Country.

Through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), tribes have been developing their own small business, financing and other economic initiatives. As of October 2024, $523 million has been invested in Indian Country.

“I am proud to announce the approval of over $500 million in funding for Native American small businesses,” Vice President Kamala Harris said last Thursday. “These investments increase access to capital and expand economic opportunity in tribal communities.”

“With this funding, these entrepreneurs will be able to access the technical assistance they need in order to hire more employees, grow their businesses, and advance innovation, which — in turn — grows our economy as a whole,” said Harris, who has made tribal sovereignty a regular part of her speeches on the 2024 presidential campaign trail.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Indianz.Com (@indianz)

According to Treasury’s announcement, 235 tribal nations have been approved for the SSBCI program, accounting for 40 percent of the total number of federally recognized tribes. Participants include the Cherokee Nation, where an $86 million investment will be utilized to provide loans to small businesses in Oklahoma.

“I think it’s a new era for supporting small businesses across the Cherokee Nation Reservation,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said on a conference call with reporters last Thursday.

Due to the strong level of investment from the federal government, Hoskin said his tribe will be able to extend high-dollar loans to entrepreneurs on the reservation. Cherokee Nation Commerce Services will be providing technical assistance to Native businesses as part of its lending operation.

“For us, this means loans of up to $5 million,” Hoskin said. “And by the way, we think that first loan will be issued within 75 days.”

“That is a breakneck speed in the world of getting government funding and turning that into real dollars for real business people,” Hoskin added. “But we can do it — and we’ve got the support of the Treasury to do it.”

Cherokee Nation awarded $86M in federal funds for Native-owned small business lending #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurs #Cherokee #IndianCountry https://t.co/xZkdTZpaBf

— Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. (@ChuckHoskin_Jr) October 17, 2024

The Chickasaw Nation is also benefiting from SSBCI. The Oklahoma-based tribe is utilizing an $16 million investment to offer collateral support and venture capital for small businesses — both those on the reservation and those owned by tribal citizens.

“We’re excited actually for the opportunity to partner with the State Small Business Credit Initiative to implement a technical assistance program to meet the needs of Chickasaw citizen-owned businesses, as well as other small and underserved businesses in any location where Chickasaw citizens reside,” Gov. Bill Anoatubby said on the call.

Additionally, the tribe received a $2 million award from the America Small Business Opportunity Program, another initiative funded by SSBCI. Anoatubby said the Chickasaw Nation Community Development Endeavor, the tribe’s community development arm, is adding $225,000 of its own funds to leverage support for entrepreneurs in Indian Country.

“Our team worked with current and new partners to research and understand the needs of small businesses in accessing capital, and identified two primary economic development clusters to focus on: agriculture and residential and commercial construction,” said Anoatubby.

The @USTreasury has reached a major milestone to support small businesses in Tribal Nations – the largest-ever federal investment in Tribal businesses. https://t.co/vGDayPx1pB

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) October 17, 2024

Overall, the Department of the Treasury said tribes are expected to utilize SSBCI approvals to leverage up to $5 billion to support economic development in their communities. Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo called it the “largest-ever federal investment in tribal small businesses.”

“The truth is that by investing in tribal small businesses and the ecosystem that supports them, we are investing in the self-determination of those people who live in Indian Country,” Adeyemo said on the media call.

“Fundamentally, our goal at the Treasury Department over the course of the Biden-Harris administration has been providing support in parts of the economy and the country that have often been left out and left behind,” Adeyemo said in describing the investments in tribal nations.

Adeyemo credited the creation of the Office of Tribal and Native Affairs at Treasury in helping ensure programs like SSBCI meet the needs of Indian Country. The office is overseen by Lynn Malerba, a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe who is the first Native woman to serve as Treasurer of the United States.

“None of this would be possible without our ongoing consultation with tribes and tribal leaders and the engagement from them so that we better understand their needs and that we work in a nation-to-nation relationship,” Adeyemo said.

Small businesses are critical to long-term economic development, and today’s announcement will help thousands of entrepreneurs access capital that will help them expand and grow.

— Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo (@TreasuryDepSec) October 17, 2024

The SSBCI program was created by an act of Congress in 2010 to help states, territories and municipalities expand access to capital for small businesses. But it wasn’t until President Joe Biden and his administration pushed for passage of the American Rescue Plan Act that tribes were included for the first time, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs noted back in March 2021, pointing to more than $32 billion in Indian Country investments from the law.

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, Biden highlighted the “record investments in tribal communities” that he said have been achieved during his tenure. The message has been pushed out repeatedly as Harris campaigns to be president, following Biden’s exit from the race.

“I strongly believe that the relationship between tribal nations and the United States is sacred, and that we must honor tribal sovereignty, embrace trust and treaty obligations and ensure tribal self-determination,” Harris said at a campaign stop in Wisconsin on the same day of the Treasury announcement about SSBCI.

“And as president, I will defend those principles,” Harris said at the rally, which featured Shannon Holsey, the leader of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

“Vice President Harris has been a fierce advocate for tribal sovereignty, working to secure funding for things like health care, education, economic development — and it truly empowers and makes a difference in our communities,” Holsey said at the Resch Expo in Ashwaubenon, located near Green Bay.

“You know what else she’s doing?” Holsey added. “She’s working to build an opportunity economy where everyone — I mean everyone — through hard work and determination is able not just to get by, but to get ahead.”

Along with the announcement on Thursday, the Department of the Treasury released a list of State Small Business Credit Initiative Tribal Government Approvals and a list of State Small Business Credit Initiative Technical Assistance Application Approvals.