Alaska Small Business Development Center

Meet the Alaska SSBCI Team

December 11, 2022

The State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) is a federally-funded program intended to attract lenders & investors to help with funding businesses that can’t get conventional business loans from banks & lending institutions. The AK SBDC is the administrative lead on the program for Alaska, and will deploy the funding to lenders and investment funds.

The SSBCI program was launched in October, 2022. SSBCI will be accepting lenders and equity funds into the program over the next few months and will be able to start processing loan applications early 2023. Incentivizing private sector funding to help small businesses grow in Alaska is the hot new gift for 2023!

To help us get those funds out on the street as quickly as possible we’ve hired two new SSBCI staff.

Erin Baca

Alaska SSBCI Equity Fund Director

Erin Baca serves as the Alaska SSBCI Equity Fund Director and is the former Director of Alaska’s former SSBCI fund, 49th State Angel Fund (49SAF). Erin has built a career in investing, startup ecosystem building, economic development, and strategy and operations management while working for both startups and established companies in engineering and aerospace.

At the core of Erin’s work is the belief that an inclusive and equitable business landscape will be the foundation for an innovative and diverse Alaskan economy. She currently serves on the board of the Alaska Investor Network and formerly served as an advisory board member for Gener8tor. In 2022, Erin was selected as a CDFA Franzini Fellow, named an Alaska Top 40 Under 40 in 2021, and a Wefunder Venture Partner since 2019. She holds an MA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and BAs in Communications and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Jay Halverson

Alaska SSBCI Lending Program Director

Jay has been part of the lending industry for more than 30 years starting as a construction lending officer and working his way to the executive office and consultant. In the past he has worked diligently as a liaison between lenders and governmental agencies helping the organizations work together to reach their common goals.

Being part of Alaska for the past decade both in the southeast and south central area, Jay understands the uniqueness, great gifts and challenges the State offers. Assisting business/agencies/organizations in working together is his personal aspiration to positively affect communities and individuals in Alaska. As the director of the SSBCI lending programs, Jay is working to bring the current initiative to the banking and credit unions with the same innovation, coordination and commitment of previous successes.

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