Federal Grants for Women in Business
Even though there is no direct federal funding to women in business, the government allocates grant funds to nonprofit organizations and state and local and governments to develop and train women business owners and create initiatives set forth through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). These grants are targeted to developing programs for women who own startup and existing businesses.
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Funding Local Women's Business Centers
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The SBA uses grants to fund women's business centers across the United States. These centers are information outlets staffed with personnel to assist women with business development, training and expansion. Grant funds are used to run the center, pay for staffing and implement new technologies.
Grant Funding for Smal- Business Educational Programs
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Small-business educational programs for women introduce them to basic business skills. Consultants are paid through government grants to teach these courses to women business owners. Many of these courses and seminars have a fee, but some are free. These courses are taught through local colleges, small-business development centers and business incubator centers.
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Microloan Programs
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A grant funding initiative that indirectly helps the funding of women in business, microloan programs are created in sponsorship with a local bank. The small-loan grant initiative picks a program provider, usually a bank or a community development agency, and provides grant funding to that agency to train women business owners in areas such as procurement, business planning, credit analysis and building, management and operations, and financial responsibility. After meeting all program requirements, women business owners are eligible for loans ranging from $500 to 20,000 dollars.
Grants to Women's Business Associations
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There are business organizations that are nonprofit entities that apply and receive grant funding to address women's issues in business, such as government procurement training or selling items to the government. One of those organizations, the National Women's Business Council (NWBC) assists women with personal counseling and group seminars regarding domestic and international business opportunities.
Misconceptions About Women's Business Grants
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The idea that the federal government gives away free money directly to individuals is a misconception. There are no direct grants to women business owners. There are companies that claim they can get you a direct business grant from the government but you have to pay a fee to the provider to get a grant. This is also misleading.
If you have any questions concerning how grants are used to educate women in business, you should contact the Office of Women's Business Ownership (OWBO) section of the SBA. There they will inform you how grant funding is used to develop programs for women in business.
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- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Saquan Stimpson
