SBA Awards $5.3 Million to Launch Women’s Business Centers in Five States

The Small Business Administration on October 2, 2026, awarded $5.3 million to five organizations to launch coordinated networks of Women’s Business Centers in Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The grants fund the SBA’s Women’s Business Center Modernization Initiative, a program designed to expand counseling, training and access-to-capital services in states where the existing network of 138 women-focused centers has not kept pace with growth in business formation.

The new model diverges from the current structure by creating State Lead Centers anchored by a single organization in each state, supported by local Service Centers. The approach aims to reduce fragmentation and help women entrepreneurs more easily access SBA resources at every stage of business ownership, from initial counseling through federal contracting opportunities.

Why the expansion matters for women founders

Nearly half of women considering entrepreneurship—47 percent—cite lack of money as the biggest obstacle to starting a business, according to 2026 data from Intuit QuickBooks. The barrier extends beyond approval rates: 32 percent of women say they have never needed to apply for business funding, double the rate of men.

The Office of Women’s Business Ownership, established in 1979 to advance women’s participation in the economy, manages the federal grant program that funds Women’s Business Centers to help close that funding gap.

The SBA used a population formula to identify eight states and territories — the five states plus Louisiana, Wyoming and the U.S. Virgin Islands — where business formation is growing fastest but existing WBC funding has not kept pace. Only the five states received grants in this funding round; no grants were awarded to Louisiana, Wyoming or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

About the Women’s Business Center Program
The SBA’s network of 138 Women’s Business Centers operates nationwide and in U.S. territories, designed to help women start and grow small businesses. The centers are part of the SBA’s Resource Partner network and receive federal grants that organizations must match with their own resources to maintain operations.

Grant recipients and funding amounts

Florida Institute of Technology Inc. received $1,540,617 to lead the Florida network. Better Business Bureau Education Foundation in Texas was awarded the largest single grant at $2,084,765. Women’s Business Enterprise Center East in Pennsylvania received $930,077, followed by Proof Programs in Tennessee with $494,329, and Economic and Community Development Institute Inc. in West Virginia with $250,000.

Each grant recipient organization must match the SBA’s funding with resources of their own, a requirement standard across the Women’s Business Center program.

Services the new centers will provide

The coordinated networks will provide business counseling and coaching, workshops on government contracting and supply chain readiness, and training on business growth strategy. Centers will also offer capital-readiness education, technical assistance on accessing credit and financing, and rural business development programs. Women’s Business Centers nationwide already offer training, counseling, access to credit and capital, and marketing opportunities, along with guidance on federal contracting opportunities. The 5 percent federal contracting goal for women-owned small businesses, set by the federal government, gives women founders a specific target when pursuing government contracts.

Each state’s network integrates these services through a common structure: the Lead Center coordinates statewide strategy and connects with local Service Centers, which deliver hands-on support closer to where women entrepreneurs operate. This model allows the SBA to evaluate whether statewide coordination improves access and outcomes compared to the current decentralized network of independently funded centers.

The new model establishes State Lead Centers supported by local Service Centers to bring services closer to entrepreneurs, ensuring women business owners can more easily access the SBA’s resources at every stage of business ownership.

How women entrepreneurs can access the services

Women entrepreneurs in Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia can locate services through the SBA’s local-assistance tool at sba.gov/local-assistance by entering their ZIP code. The new state networks will operate alongside existing Women’s Business Centers, expanding the total resources available in each state. The SBA also provides online training through its DreamBuilder platform, available in English and Spanish, which offers business guidance tailored to women founders.

For direct assistance, women can contact the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership at owbo@sba.gov or call the SBA at 800-827-5722. As the five grant recipients establish their networks over the coming months, the SBA said it will evaluate the statewide model’s effectiveness in delivering coordinated counseling, training and access to capital for women-owned businesses.

Photo: Department of Housing and Urban Development. Office of the Chief Human Capital O · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons