Loan Guarantee Program

The Alaska SSBCI Loan Guarantee Program will provide guarantees for lenders to support loans to qualifying small businesses on a case by case basis. Typically, the State SSBCI guarantee amount will be up to 50% of the total loan amount.

Notably, the Tribal SSBCI loan guarantee amount will be up to 80% for borrowers affiliated with the 125 tribes consortium.

By providing loan guarantees for businesses that traditionally don’t qualify for commercial loans, this program will enable lenders to deploy capital to higher risk industries and businesses using the financial security of the SSBCI program to offset their exposure and meet their internal fiduciary requirements.

Lenders must execute a Master Guarantee Agreement to participate in the Guarantee program. In addition, an addendum agreement between the lender and the Alaska SBDC allows for a particular loan, verifies the eligibility criteria for the program and the borrower’s eligibility. Upon approval, the guarantee amount of SSBCI funds will be placed into a Certificate of Deposit (CD) with a lender. 

The program staff will not re-underwrite the loans in this program, but rather will review the bank’s lending assessment to determine if the guarantee support request is reasonable and conforms to the program restrictions and requirements. Borrowers that qualify as SEDI (Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individual) or VSBs (Very Small Business) as defined by the Department of Treasury will be given priority in the application process. The lender is responsible for servicing, collections, and liquidation, with the Alaska SBDC receiving monthly and annual delinquency reports.

When the loan is successfully repaid, the loan guarantee CD is liquidated back to the SSBCI program and the funds can then be redeployed to other lenders and borrowers. In the event of default, the borrower’s assets and all remedies would need to be liquidated and resolved before the CD would be available to the lender to cover guaranteed percentage of their principle balance loss.

This program is designed to unlock new economic opportunities for the state’s small businesses and Alaska’s most economically disadvantaged residents. These businesses have a variety of secondary economic benefits that will help grow local, regional and rural economies as well as help develop community stability and support more robust development.