Women's Business Center - Initial Phase | OWBO 2020 07

Opportunity Information: Apply for OWBO 2020 07

The Small Business Administration (SBA), through its Office of Women s Business Ownership, announced the Women s Business Center (WBC) - Initial Phase funding opportunity (Opportunity Number OWBO 2020 07) to expand access to women s entrepreneurial support services in underserved areas. The core goal is to fund up to 25 private, non-profit organizations to deliver entrepreneurial development services to women, with a strong emphasis on reaching socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs. In practice, this means helping women start, stabilize, and grow small businesses by providing training, counseling, technical assistance, and related supports that strengthen business skills and improve access to resources.

A key feature of the opportunity is that new WBC proposals must be located outside the geographic footprint of existing WBCs. Specifically, the SBA will not consider a proposal for a new Women s Business Center if the proposed location is within 100 miles of an existing WBC. This distance requirement is meant to prevent duplication and to push new capacity into communities that currently lack a nearby WBC presence. Applicants therefore need to pay close attention to siting and service area planning, since geographic eligibility is a threshold issue.

Eligibility is limited to private, non-profit organizations that hold 501(c) tax-exempt status recognized by the IRS. The opportunity is listed under the Business and Commerce activity category (CFDA 59.043) and uses a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, which generally signals an ongoing, hands-on relationship with the SBA compared to a more hands-off grant. The award ceiling is $150,000 per award, with up to 25 awards expected under this announcement, indicating an intent to seed or re-establish multiple centers rather than concentrate funds in a small number of large projects.

The announcement also clarifies how prior WBC operators are treated. If an organization is currently operating an SBA-funded WBC, or has operated one within the past five years, and is selected under this competition, it will be funded specifically as an Initial Phase Project. Similarly, an organization that previously operated an SBA-funded WBC but is no longer operating may still be eligible; if selected, its award would also be categorized as an Initial Phase Project because the application is considered an effort to re-establish a WBC. This framing highlights that the funding is geared toward launching or relaunching center operations in qualified areas, rather than simply continuing mature, ongoing WBC programming.

Another priority embedded in the announcement is encouragement for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to apply or participate, recognizing their established role and trusted presence in communities that include many socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs. The SBA specifically references institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) associated with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). The intent is to broaden who delivers these services and to strengthen support networks in markets where barriers to entrepreneurship can be higher and where culturally competent, community-rooted providers can make a measurable difference.

Administratively, the opportunity was created on September 10, 2020, with an original closing date of September 24, 2020. Overall, this FOA is best understood as a targeted expansion effort: it uses modest, capped cooperative agreement awards to stand up (or re-establish) WBC capacity in places beyond the reach of existing centers, while prioritizing service to women who face social and economic disadvantages and encouraging leadership and participation from institutions with deep ties to underserved communities.

• The Small Business Administration in the business and commerce sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Women's Business Center - Initial Phase" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 59.043.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 10, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 24, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 25 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for OWBO 2020 07

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