The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is offering $30 million in grant funding for Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), including the opportunity to open a center in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Organizations that provide virtual counseling and training services to women-owned small businesses will also be eligible for the grants, along with in-person offices.
Currently, there are 152 in-person WBCs across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This marks the first time that organizations providing virtual services will also be able to apply for the grants. The funding will be awarded in four areas: supporting women business owners in government contracting, providing entrepreneurial development services to women-owned small businesses focused on child care services, offering general entrepreneurial development services to women in areas without existing centers, and supporting the opening of a center in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Christina Hale, Assistant Administrator for the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership, stated that every new WBC helps open doors for women entrepreneurs by providing training and assistance to grow their small businesses. Anyone with questions about these grants can contact the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership through email at owbo@sba.gov. The office was established by executive order in 1979 to support the growth of women-owned small businesses across the country
