The Biden administration on April 10 announced a $1.7 billion grant program aimed at helping small businesses in underserved communities access the capital and financing services they need to recover from COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled the program during a news conference alongside Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo where she called small businesses “the backbone” of the U.S. economy.
According to Harris, the billions of dollars will be granted to approximately 603 community lenders or banks via the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI), specifically through its Equitable Recovery Program.
That program was established to ensure economic opportunities for underserved people and communities who were disproportionately economically impacted by lockdowns….