SBA launches $6M Women's Business Center Initiative

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a $6 million Women's Business Center (WBC) Modernization Initiative, a grant program competition that will provide financial support to enhance support systems for women entrepreneurs in underserved states and territories nationwide. The aim of the initiative is to update the Women's Business Center Program that is nearly 40 years old and develop statewide networks to enhance the availability of business counseling, training, technical assistance and capital for women-owned businesses.

The Women's Business Center Program was created in the Reagan Administration to assist women entrepreneurs by providing training and business development. The new program will create State Lead Centers with local Service Centers at various locations in the State and provide a coordinated statewide approach to providing comprehensive assistance to entrepreneurs at all stages of the business development process.

The grant competition will be funded from statutorily required funds and will only be available to organizations in states and territories where funding for WBs has failed to keep up with the number of women entrepreneurs. Qualifying areas are in Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia and Wyoming. The deadline for the application is August 10, 2026, by 11:59 p.m. ET.

Commenting on the initiative, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said, "Amid record business formation in 2026, the WBC Modernization Initiative is designed to deliver a broader range of statewide resources for women entrepreneurs where business starts are growing the fastest—but where funding has fallen behind. By building coordinated networks of Lead and Service Centers, SBA is aligning counseling, training, and access to capital in a single, connected statewide system that keeps pace with entrepreneurs’ needs and helps more women start and grow businesses that create jobs and strengthen communities nationwide."

Kelly also criticized delays under the previous administration, adding, "As I testified last week, the Biden Administration failed to meet statutory grant deadlines for years, and the Trump SBA is not only addressing these administrative failures by providing the funding but modernizing programs that had been treated as box-checking exercises. American taxpayers deserve to know that any dollar deployed is being managed for return on investment."

Key Highlights:

• $6 million grants will modernize statewide women entrepreneurship support networks
• Lead Centers and Service Centers will expand business assistance access
• Existing 138 Women’s Business Centers will continue receiving FY26 funding

According to the SBA, demand for Women’s Business Center services has significantly outgrown the program’s original footprint. To address this gap, the modernization initiative uses a population-based funding formula to expand support in states with relatively limited Women’s Business Center coverage. The initiative will operate independently and will not replace or reduce existing funding. All 138 current Women’s Business Centers will continue receiving their FY2026 base awards under existing cooperative agreements, while selected states will receive additional Lead Center funding to evaluate the effectiveness of statewide support networks.

Eligible applicants are U.S.-incorporated nonprofit organizations with active 501(c) tax-exempt status with experience in counseling and technical support for entrepreneurs and financial management systems consistent with 2 CFR 200.302 requirements.

Funding allocations include Texas ($2.08 million), Florida ($1.54 million), Pennsylvania ($930,077), Louisiana ($333,167), Tennessee ($494,329), West Virginia ($250,000), Wyoming ($250,000), and the U.S. Virgin Islands ($200,000). Notably, the Women's Business Center is not yet available in certain areas such as Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The introduction of the Center in these areas represents an important extension of the entrepreneurial support that is currently available in under-served communities.