On Sept. 27, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act (SBJA), the most significant piece of small business legislation in over a decade. The new law is providing critical resources to help small businesses continue to drive economic recovery and create jobs. The new law extended the successful Small Business Administration (SBA)-enhanced loan provisions while offering billions more in lending support, tax cuts, and other opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
The SBJA includes an array of provisions aimed at helping small businesses gain access to capital, compete for federal contracting opportunities, expand exporting opportunities and obtain other assistance to help them grow and create jobs.
Awarded funds may be used toward small business (SB) training, counseling, and/or mentoring activities designed to enhance SBs’ ability to compete for larger procurements.
Grantees are expected to help small businesses find other firms interested in teaming, assist SBs with the formation and execution of teaming arrangements, aid teams of SBs in identifying appropriate larger contracting opportunities, and assist teams of SBs with the preparation and submission of bids and offers.
Grantees will leverage their existing resources and collaborate with SBA District Offices, resource partners, and other federal, state, local and tribal government small business development programs.
SBA Involvement and Oversight
This pilot program is managed by SBA’s Office of Government Contracting. A SBA employee from a District Office located within the Grantee’s service area will serve as the primary point of contact and liaison to SBA resources. A designated Grants Officer Technical Representative (GOTR) at SBA Headquarters is responsible for overall monitoring and oversight of the grantee including, but not limited to, compliance with the terms of the Cooperative Agreement.
On September 23rd, 2011, SBA announced the awardees of the SBTPP grants. Eleven grantees were selected from hundreds of applications submitted. Grantees were awarded between $200,000 and $500,000 in funding, for a total of approximately $5 million in Fiscal Year 2011.
