Business Grants for Women – Separating Fact From Fiction
Let’s start with the biggest myth of all…Whether you want to believe it or not, the U.S. government does not currently provide grants for starting or expanding a small business, no matter what your gender, ethnicity, age, financial position is. It just doesn’t do it. It doesn’t matter how persuasive the argument, or how believable the testimonial…They just don’t do it.
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA): The SBA does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses. SBA’s grant programs generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments in an effort to expand and enhance small business technical and financial assistance.
Although no business loans or business grants for women are available at the federal level, what the government does offer is lots of free help in planning how to start or grow your business and how to secure low-interest SBA-backed small business loans.
So is that it? No money from Uncle Sam to help you start that dream business you’ve been planning for? Unfortunately, that’s true…Good ‘ol Uncle Sam’s pockets have been picked cleaned when it comes to grants for starting up small businesses. However, the good news is that the story doesn’t end there because…
States Come to the Rescue with Business Grants for Women!
Small business grants for women do exist. In fact, that small business grant you need to start or expand your woman-owned business could be available right in your own home state. Many state development agencies offer these types of small business grants as well as other types of financial assistance designed to encourage and assist entrepreneurs, including women, in starting or expanding their small business.
Small business financing incentives are a very important part of the economic growth for every state so some states actually offer small business grants and other small business incentives which might include subsidized rates on SBA loans, tax breaks and even participation in business “incubator” programs.
So how do you find whether your state offers such programs?
Just go to your favorite search engine and search for the economic development agency in your state (e.g., “your state economic development”). Alternatively, if you don’t want to do that or for some reason the home page for your state economic development agency doesn’t pop up, I’ve pulled together found a comprehensive list for you, which includes the links to all state economic development agencies as well as direct links to the state small business grant programs, links to other small business funding sources in the state, plus a link to tax information for small businesses in the state.
If you’d like that list of state funding resources, just enter your name and email address in the following form and it will be delivered to your email instantly. Enjoy!
