Helping women entrepreneurs start their businesses is at the heart of everything we do at the Small Business Administration (SBA). It is the core of what the office I oversee, the Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO), does. The main way we do this is through our Women's Business Center network, which consists of SBA-funded centers in communities around the country focused on helping women small business owners.
The goal of our WBCs is simple; it is to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs. We want women entrepreneurs to be able to walk through the doors of one of our 140 centers and get all the resources they need to open a thriving business and overcome any obstacles they may be facing.
I am proud to say that we are meeting this goal. Under the leadership of SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, OWBO was able to help more than 88,000 businesses, including over 3,000 startups, and supported over 86,000 jobs in 2021. We also provided 1.4 million capital transactions, which is crucial to women who continue to face historical inequities accessing capital.
Currently, we fund and support the largest number of WBCs in SBA history, with over 140 centers in 49 states and Puerto Rico. This number is just going to keep increasing, as last month we announced the grant opportunities to fund a WBC in Alaska, which would be the first center there in over a decade, and a couple of centers with Minority Serving Institutions.
So, how exactly do our WBCs help women entrepreneurs open their businesses? Each WBC tailors its services to the community it's serving since it is impossible to think that a woman entrepreneur in rural Alaska will need the same assistance as one in downtown Los Angeles. But here are three things that all our centers provide women who walk through their doors.
One-on-One Training and Counseling
Many of our centers offer low-cost training and counseling through unique and innovative programs that women entrepreneurs will need when starting their business; this includes accessing capital, contracting, using the internet to leverage your business, balancing workbooks, and other similar topics. This training is offered in several languages and dialects to ensure that we can help and reach unserved markets.
In addition to the programs that our WBCs provide, we also have our free ASCENT digital platform, which offers classes to assist women business owners with strategies when it comes to topics such as Disaster & Economic Recovery, Strategic Marketing, Your People, Your Business Financial Strategy, and Access to Capital. Last month, we announced a new chapter to our ASCENT e-learning platform called Journey 6. It focuses on educating women business owners about government contracting.
Beyond our ASCENT platform, the SBA also offers another free digital learning platform called DreamBuilder, specifically focusing on the skills needed to start a new business. By the end of the course, women will have developed a business plan for their new business or have improved their existing plan.
Networking
To succeed in anything, you need to have a strong network. This is true of starting a thriving business.
Our WBCs know the importance of networking and provide women entrepreneurs with a wide range of contacts that they can leverage to succeed. These contacts include other women being helped by the WBC itself. We see each WBC as a community of individuals looking to thrive together.
The SBA also has a Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP) which helps businesses interested in getting into the federal contracting market by pairing them with more experienced companies that can serve as their mentor in navigating the world of federal contracting. Women business owners interested in this program can get assistance applying at any of our WBCs.
As a women entrepreneur myself, I know the value of networking and getting to know other people in the entrepreneurial community. That woman you met in a WBC one day might be key when your business is facing a difficulty, or it might be the person to provide the guidance and advice you need.
Assist With the Application Process for SBA Programs
Applying for assistance from the federal government is not an easy task. It is hard to know exactly what information to include or not, as well as just knowing what programs assist. Our WBCs help women entrepreneurs manage the world of government programs to see which programs will work best for their specific case.
This was especially important during the COVID-19 when women small business owners were struggling to survive due to shutdowns of businesses slowing down due to the pandemic.
Beyond COVID, there are countless SBA programs that help women with their businesses. Our WBCs guided business owners on the major COVID assistance programs that would better help them, as well as helped them fill out the applications needed to get the aid. Our nine-year 8(a) Business Development program assists small, disadvantaged businesses compete in the marketplace through training and technical assistance. Our 8(a) program also ensures participants with equitable access to contracting opportunities in the federal marketplace through contracting preferences.
Our WBCs can also help women business owners apply for the SBA's Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) Federal Contracting program. Through this program, the federal government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses that are part of the WOSB program. The contracts that fit into this are in industries where WOSBs are underrepresented. And some contracts are limited even further to only businesses owned by women from economically and socially disadvantaged communities.
Those are just two of the countless programs WBCs can help women business owners access. No matter what business you are thinking of opening, you can find assistance you need at any WBC; the first step is to walk through the door.
To learn more about the SBA's resources for women business owners, visit www.sba.gov/women.