SBA Announces Grant Funding to Increase Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses under New Pilot Program

BY CHRISTOPHER A. LORENZANA – WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration is accepting grant funding proposals from eligible and well-established national organizations interested in providing training, guidance, counseling, mentoring and procurement assistance to small businesses in teaming arrangements, which may be in the form of a joint venture or prime and subcontractor relationship, under its new Small Business Teaming Pilot program.

The Small Business Teaming Pilot program was established by Congress under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.  Under this new program, the SBA expects to make 10-to-20 grant awards in the range of $250,000-$500,000 totaling up to $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.

“The Small Business Jobs Act provides critical resources to help small businesses continue to drive economic recovery and create jobs,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills.  “The teaming pilot program will help put contract dollars into the hands of small businesses, create job opportunities through the teaming arrangements, help drive innovation and promote economic growth for our nation’s economy.”

To be eligible for these grant awards, an applicant must:

• be a private, non-profit or for-profit entity;
• have been in existence continually for the past three years;
• have experience dealing with issues relating to small business on a national level; and
• demonstrate that it has the capacity to provide assistance to small businesses.

Applicant organizations selected for these awards must leverage the funding received by the SBA by working in conjunction with SBA’s district offices and other federal, state, local and tribal government small business development programs, including: Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, SBA resource partners such as SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, 7(j) technical assistance providers, universities, other institutions of higher education and private organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade and industry groups and associations.

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the government-wide financial assistance portal www.grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 25, 2011.  For more information about the Small Business Teaming Pilot Program, visit: www.sba.gov/teaming

Christopher A. Lorenzana is the Regional Communications Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration

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