SBA has funds for women vet entrepreneurship training
SBA District Director Yvette T. Collazo
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Veterans Business Development announced Thursday a $300,000 funding opportunity for women and veteran-owned businesses through its Women Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Program.
SBA expects to make up to six awards through this program with a minimum award of $25,000, it said in a statement.
Successful applicants will be organizations with a demonstrated history of providing successful entrepreneurship training to women veterans, women service members, and women spouses of service members and veterans.
“Women-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing segments of the small business community, and the SBA is committed to helping women veterans achieve their goals of small business ownership,” said SBA District Director Yvette T. Collazo.
“We encourage SBA resource partners and other non-profit and state government entities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to apply for this funding opportunity,” she said.
“It will ultimately provide women veterans with the business counseling and training they need to start and grow as entrepreneurs, and create much needed jobs,” Collazo added.
This funding opportunity is open to nonprofit organizations, local or state agencies, private sector firms, and institutions of higher learning. Beneficiaries of the program will include: veterans, service-disabled veterans, members of the National Guard or Reserve Component, active duty service members, or women spouses of service members or veterans.
Women Veteran Owned Small Businesses represent a burgeoning economic powerhouse in the military small business community.
As of 2012, women veterans owned 383,302 businesses, generating $17.9 billion in sales.
From 2007 to 2012, despite only representing 15.2 percent of the total number of all veteran-owned businesses, the number of women veteran owned small businesses increased by 294.7 percent.
Applications must be received by Dec. 12. For more information, see program announcement No. WVETP-2017-01 at www.grants.gov.
