WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration and Department of Energy are creating a joint investment initiative aimed at steering private capital toward domestic energy production, nuclear power, critical minerals and grid infrastructure, using the SBA’s $58 billion Small Business Investment Company program as the financing channel.
The agencies established the Small Business Investment Company-Energy Initiative through a memorandum of agreement signed by SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Energy Secretary Chris Wright at an event in Pennsylvania last week.
Under the agreement, the Energy Department’s Office of Technology Commercialization will identify priority technologies, production needs and supply-chain gaps, while the SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation will license and oversee participating SBIC funds that commit capital to those areas.
The initial focus includes traditional energy production and storage, next-generation nuclear systems, advanced materials and critical minerals, grid equipment and specialized supply-chain technologies tied to national and economic security.
The structure is intended to use federally licensed private investment funds rather than direct government ownership of projects, with DOE setting strategic priorities and SBA supervising the participating investment vehicles.
“By aligning investment from the proven Small Business Investment Company Program with the DOE’s strategic priorities, this Administration will fuel the producers that deliver affordable energy to families and small businesses across our great nation,” Loeffler said.
Wright said the partnership is designed to direct resources toward small businesses involved in domestic manufacturing and energy production.
“By partnering with the Small Business Administration, the Energy Department is committing to invest its resources in American small businesses that will create jobs, strengthen our domestic manufacturing base, and unleash American energy production,” Wright said.
The initiative expands the administration’s use of SBA financing programs to support strategic industrial sectors. The agency has separately promoted a 90% loan guarantee for qualifying small businesses in the energy-production supply chain.
SBA also launched a similar effort with NASA earlier this year to encourage targeted SBIC investment in aerospace priorities.
DOE plans to review and update its eligible investment priorities as technology and supply-chain requirements change, allowing participating funds to direct capital toward areas the department considers increasingly important to domestic energy security.
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