Women’s Business Center – Initial Phase Grant by SBA

The purpose of this FOA is to provide funding for up to two private, non-profit organizations

that will provide entrepreneurial development services to women, with an emphasis on socially

and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs, within the State of West Virginia.

Eligible applicants must be private, non-profit organizations with 501(c)- tax exempt status from

the U.S. Treasury/Internal Revenue Service and must provide services to the State of West

Virginia.

Note: Public non-profit organizations and for-profit businesses are not eligible for these awards.

Public non-profits are organizations, such as churches, schools, and hospitals that generally

provide charitable services directly to the public, that are funded in large part by public donations

and have many outside, unaffiliated directors. An organization that is operating or has operated

an SBA-funded WBC within the past five years, if selected, will be awarded as a Renewal Phase

Project. Likewise, an organization that previously operated an SBA-funded WBC that is no

longer operating, if eligible to apply and selected, will also be awarded as a Renewal Phase

Project since this application will be treated as an effort to re-establish the WBC.

Recognizing the important role that Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) (e.g., Historically

Black Colleges and Universities [HBCUs], Hispanic-Serving Institutions [HSIs] from the

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities [HACU], and Asian American Native

American Pacific Islander Institutions [AANAPISIs]) play in meeting the needs of socially and

economically disadvantaged markets, this program announcement seeks to encourage MSIs to

provide entrepreneurial development services to socially and economically disadvantaged

entrepreneurs. MSIs and their auxiliary entities are encouraged to apply.