Today's Date: March 29, 2024
National University Receives 2024 Military Friendly® Gold Designation   •   Re:wild and Colossal Biosciences team up to leverage revolutionary technology to save critically endangered species on the brink   •   Carnegie Learning Named 2024 SIIA CODiE Award Finalist for Best Educational Game and Best AI Implementation in Ed Tech   •   Jamieson Wellness Publishes Inaugural Sustainability Impact Report   •   Sypher Secures Strategic Partnership with FAIA to Fuel Growth   •   Parkland Corporation Announces the Results of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders   •   Visit Visalia Recognizes Autism Awareness Month in April   •   Anaergia Announces Delay in the Filing of Its Audited Financial Statements and Related Disclosures   •   Midea Group releases its first-ever ESG brand story with an unexpected VIP visit highlighting its commitment to sustainability.   •   Coachella Concerned That People Have Sex, Says AHF   •   VIRGIN HOTELS CHAMPIONS INCLUSIVE TRAVEL FOR NEURODIVERSE TRAVELERS   •   Empire State Realty Trust Receives WELL Health-Safety Leadership Award; Becomes Among the First Commercial Office and Multifamil   •   Anaergia Announces Escrow Closing of Second Tranche of the Strategic Investment   •   Chosgo K23: One of the Best Bluetooth Hearing Aids for Seniors   •   Suffolk Kicks off 2024 “Build With Us @ Suffolk” Program in Boston for Trade Partners, Opening Doors for Minority-,   •   Equalpride Partners with TransLash Media for Trans Day of Visibility, Amplifying Voices of Black Trans Femmes in the Arts   •   Amerex Group Unveils Red Carter Swimwear's Revitalized Collection   •   Fosun Management on 2023 Annual Results: Focusing on Core Industries with Established Advantages   •   YMCA of the USA Partners With Old Spice To Increase High School Graduation Among Boys And Young Men Of Color Through Mentorship   •   Make-A-Wish and celebrity wish granters announce goal to recruit 1 million people to become "WishMakers"
Bookmark and Share

SBA Grants Deliver Jobs

 WASHINGTON – The first six of a series of grants to Small Business Development Centers around the country to expand access to programs to help entrepreneurs start or grow their businesses and create jobs were announced today by Deputy Administrator Marie Johns of the U.S. Small Business Administration. These first six grants are part of $50 million in funding included in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 signed by the President last September. 

A key provision of the Jobs Act provides separate one-time funding to the SBDCs to support job creation and retention within the small business community through in-depth business counseling and advising entrepreneurs and small business owners. SBDCs in Alaska, California (Northeastern SBDC program), Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, and South Carolina are the first to receive funding grants from the Jobs Act to expand training and business advisory services.

“The Small Business Jobs Act is the most consequential piece of legislation affecting small businesses enacted in more than a decade,” Johns said. “It provided an array of tools to help small businesses continue to drive economic growth and create jobs, including these grants to expand access to SBDCs around the country which provide valuable business counseling and technical assistance. Whether you’re an entrepreneur working on a business plan to start your own business, or a small business owner who’s looking to take your firm to the next level and add more employees, SBDC counselors are in a position to help.”

The head of Michigan’s program, Carol Lopucki, said the grant will be a big help to that state’s Small Business and Technology Development Center and the small businesses it serves. “This Jobs Act award will allow us to bring onboard nine finance and strategy specialists to work directly with existing companies,” she said. “We are off and running. The hiring documents started spinning the moment this hit the ground.”

Funding is allocated to each SBDC under a statutory funding formula based on state population. Additional awards to remaining SBDCs will be issued throughout the coming weeks. 

The Jobs Act grants will help to cover SBDCs’ costs of aiding small businesses seeking capital and credit, federal procurement opportunities, energy efficiency audits to reduce energy bills, pportunities to export products or services to foreign customers, invest in broadband technologies, and other assistance.

The one-time-only individual funding amounts to be received by each SBDC, and the intended uses of the grant funding are as follows:

Alaska - $325,000 grant to the Alaska Small Business Development Center will allow it to: 
• expand services and training to the most rural areas of Alaska including one-on-one counseling, workshops on selected business management topics, and distance learning classrooms to reach a greater number of people; 
• hire one full-time and one part-time business adviser; and
• purchase classroom materials to reduce costs to attendees. 

California - $616,586 grant to the Northeastern California Small Business Development Center will allow it to: 
• partner with the University of Southern California Technology Transfer Center and federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs to help small businesses negatively impacted by foreign trade practices to develop new export markets; 
• offer SBIR and commercialization assistance to technology firms in partnership with California’s regional innovation Hub program (iHUB) and SBA’s Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (FAST);
• add counseling expertise to assist second stage companies increase business growth;
• add business advisers to rural service centers to reach underserved clients;
• support a new virtual microbusiness incubator in rural San Joaquin Valley; and
• increase small business participation in federal, state and local government procurement, with emphasis on regional opportunity for U.S. Forest Service contracting.

Idaho - $325,000 grant to the Idaho Small Business Development Center grant will allow it to:
• focus on job creation with special emphasis on businesses that can create jobs now;
• help the Idaho Department of Commerce to provide assistance to SBIR winners in the commercialization of their products;
• involve college and university students in providing assistance to entrepreneurs so that the small business community is helped while students learn “real world” business issues – the first step in developing an entrepreneurial vision for college and university graduates;
• add business advisory capacity to help companies pursuing international trade to expand their market; and 
• continue to support four of the six centers co-located with incubators in the state. 

Iowa - $477,754 grant to the Iowa Small Business Development Center will allow it to: 
• establish an Office of International Trade in Des Moines to serve clients throughout the state by supporting exporters and export-ready businesses; 
• epand specialized counseling for technology commercialization at two host research institutions; and
• hire a marketing expert to provide services to the Iowa Lead Center, the newly created Office of International Trade, and the broader network, alleviating the burden from the current SBDC regional directors and allowing them to increase direct client services. 

Michigan - $1,622,560 grant to the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center will allow it to:
• hire nine new finance and strategy specialists to work with the existing Manufacturing Assistant Team (MAT) and the Growth Group Team (G2) to provide no-cost counseling services to Michigan manufacturers and other industries;
• hlp small manufacturers diversify into new industries and reduce their automotive reliance;
• duble the work force of high-level assistance throughout the state, and focus on small businesses in the growth phase, in strategic alignment with the state of Michigan’s initiatives.

South Carolina - $655,055 grant to the South Carolina Small Business Development Center will allow it to: 
• hre a full-time dedicated business adviser to provide tailored assistance to small business manufacturers;
• expand veterans and military outreach activities focused on increasing awareness of the services available through the SBDC to veterans and current military personnel throughout the state; 
• expand business advisement resources to meet increased demand; 
• extend outreach in key markets; 
• increase support to companies seeking to do business with the government; and 
• increase international trade efforts. 

The grants are a one-time funding intended to meet the critical need for business expansion and job creation, and are not intended to replace the core funding or the matching funds that the SBDCs require to sustain the program annually. 


STORY TAGS: GENERAL, BLACK NEWS, AFRICAN AMERICAN NEWS, LATINO NEWS, HISPANIC NEWS, MINORITY NEWS, CIVIL RIGHTS, DISCRIMINATION, RACISM, DIVERSITY, RACIAL EQUALITY, BIAS, EQUALITY

Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News