Deadline: 15-Jun-21
The Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) is accepting applications for the Women’s Business Center Resiliency and Recovery Demonstration Grant.
The purpose of this project is to continue or establish projects that improve service delivery, training and supports provided to women-owned businesses.
The WBC Program was established by the Women’s Business Ownership Act as the Women’s Business Demonstration Pilot, providing grants to private non-profit organizations to aid and encourage the development and growth of small women-owned businesses through long-term training and counseling.
The program was expanded and made permanent in 2007, when the WBC Sustainability Grant Program, established in 1999, was replaced with the WBC Renewal Grant Program.
The mission of the WBC Program is to act as the catalyst for providing in-depth, substantive, outcomeoriented business services to women entrepreneurs, both nascent and established businesses, a representative number of which are socially and economically disadvantaged.
This mission is accomplished through the award of financial assistance to private, 501(c) certified non-profit organizations to enable them to affect substantial economic impact in their communities, as measured by successful business start-ups, job creation and retention, and accessing capital.
SBA intends to solicit, evaluate, and fund eligible applications from WBCs for its Resiliency and Recovery Demonstration project awards.
The funded projects will enable awardees to continue or establish projects that improve service delivery, training and supports provided to women-owned businesses.
Successful respondents will demonstrate innovative approaches to service delivery for addressing the needs of their respective entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Best practices must be used shall be used for the education, training, and advising of covered small business concerns and their employees on:
- accessing and applying for resources provided by the Administration and other Federal resources relating to access to capital and business resiliency;
- the hazards and prevention of the transmission and communication of COVID–19 and other communicable diseases;
- the potential effects of COVID–19 on the supply chains, distribution, and sale of products of covered small business concerns and the mitigation of those effects;
- the management and practice of telework to reduce possible transmission of COVID–19;
- the management and practice of remote customer service by electronic or other means;
- the risks of and mitigation of cyber threats in remote customer service or telework practices;
- the mitigation of the effects of reduced travel or outside activities on covered small business concerns during COVID–19 or similar occurrences; and
- any other relevant business practices necessary to mitigate the economic effects of COVID–19 or similar occurrences.
Funding Information
- Estimated Funding: SBA expects to issue up to 14 awards under this Funding Opportunity. The amount of funding provided under each award will be not more than $200,000 per award.
- Expected Number of Awards: SBA anticipates making at 14 awards under this Funding Opportunity.
- Period of Performance/Budget Periods: Single Year Project awards will be made for a one-year period of performance.
Eligibility Criteria
- An organization may submit more than one proposal in response to this Funding Opportunity, provided that the purpose of each project is separate and distinct.
- To the extent that they satisfy all eligibility criteria the same as all other applicant organizations, Religious Organizations are entitled to compete for Federal financial assistance (grants and/or cooperative agreements) used to support government programs. Generally, such organizations are not required to alter their religious character to participate in a government program, nor to cease engaging in explicitly religious activities outside the program, nor effectively to relinquish their Federal statutory protections for religious hiring decisions.
- To be eligible for this Funding Opportunity an applicant must be an existing WBC currently funded by SBA.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=333592