Women's Business Center Initial Grant

Grants to USA Nonprofits & IHEs in Multiple States
for Support Services to Women Owned Businesses

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Agency Type:

Federal

Funding Source:

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United States Small Business Administration, Office of Women's Business Ownership

Deadline Date:

06/18/15 11:59 PM ET

Description:

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Grants to Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont, West Virginia, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands nonprofits including IHEs to assist new and established women entrepreneurs. Eligible programs are community centers offering women entrepreneurs financial, management, marketing and other types of business assistance that they may need.

Programs should give particular consideration to disadvantaged populations, particularly the handicapped, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, and those whose household income is at or below 80% of the Area Median Income.

The Applicants selected for award under this program announcement are required to maximize efforts to leverage the SBA funding by working in conjunction with the SBA’s District Offices and other Federal, state, local and tribal government small business development programs and activities; the SBA resource partners such as SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, 7(j) Technical Assistance providers, Small Business Investment Companies, Certified Development Companies, and the SBA lenders; universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education; and private organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade and industry groups and associations.

GrantWatch ID#:

GrantWatch ID#: 156710

Estimated Total Program Funding:

$900,000

Number of Grants:

Estimated Size of Grant:

- Up to $150,000 for the Initial Phase award.
- Up to $131,250 for Renewal Phase award.

Term of Contract:

September 30, 2015 – September 29, 2016

For the Initial Phase, awards will be made for a 5-year period of performance, consisting of a base period of twelve (12) months from the date of award and four (4) option periods of twelve (12) months each.

For the Renewal Phase, awards (if any) will be made for a 3-year period of performance, consisting of a base period of twelve (12) months from date of award and two (2) option periods of twelve (12) months each.

Eligibility:

Incorporated not-for-profit entity
Nonprofit organizations (as described under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code)
Private institutions of higher education
See RFP and/or Grant Guidelines for full eligibility
U.S. Territory or Possession

Additional Eligibility Criteria:

- Private, 501(c)- certified nonprofit organizations.

- Organized and incorporated in the United States, and remains in good standing in the state or territory of incorporation.

- Provides technical assistance to small business concerns owned and controlled by women.

- Is responsible for hiring, supervising, and employing staff sufficient to ensure that the women’s business center is open to the public a minimum of 40 hours a week (to include evening and weekend hours) and to fully provide the services required under this program announcement, the notice of award, and the applicant’s proposal. Staff must include a full-time, (40 hours per week) program director whose time is dedicated 100% to managing the day-to-day operation of the WBC project, its staff and volunteers as well as overseeing all financial aspects of the project.

An organization that previously operated an SBA-funded women’s business center within the past five years of the application, and previously operated an SBA-funded women’s business center within 50 miles of the proposed territory of the application may be eligible to apply, but if awarded, would be awarded as a Renewal Phase Project.

Applicants responding to this program announcement may not apply for a new WBC Project within 50 miles of an existing WBC Project without including in its written narrative the number of socially and economically disadvantaged persons within the proposed service area, census data, population, etc.

Pre-Application Information:

Match requirement:

- For the Initial Phase award, the non-Federal entity is required to match awarded funds on a 1:2 ratio ($1 of non-Federal funds for every $2 of Federal funds) for the first two years and 1:1 in the three subsequent years.

- For the Renewal Phase award (if any), the non-Federal entity is required to match awarded funds on 1:1 ratio ($1 of non-Federal funds for every $1 of Federal funds) for each year of the three (3) year project.

In order to submit an application via grants.gov, an organization is first required to have a DUNS number, be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM), and have a grants.gov username and password. The process for meeting these three pre-submission requirements may take several days to complete.

Once an application is submitted, it undergoes a validation process through which it will be accepted or rejected by the grants.gov system. The validation process may take 24 to 48 hours to complete.

Applicants should not wait until the closing date to begin the submission process in order to avoid unexpected delays that could result in the rejection of an application.

Contact Information:

Before starting your grant application, please review the funding source's website listed below for updates/changes/addendums/conferences/LOIs.

Office of Women’s Business Ownership Point of Contact:
202-205-6673

Financial/Grants Management Point of Contact:
202-205-6673

OWBO@sba.gov

Grants.gov Technical Support
1-800-518-4726
support@grants.gov
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