On November 6, the House passed a bill to modify the Women’s Business Center program (H.R. 1838), 428-4, and the Small Business Microlending Expansion Act (H.R. 3737), 405-23.
Women’s Business Center Program
Sponsored by Rep. Mary Fallin (R-OK), H.R. 1838 would adjust the formula for funding women’s business centers (WBCs). The Small Business Committee incorporated a portion of H.R. 1838 into the Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act (H.R. 2352) passed by the committee on May 13 (see The Source 5/15/09).
H.R. 1838 would authorize $20 million in FY2010 and $22 million in FY2011 for the grants to WBCs. The bill would create a three-tiered funding formula for WBCs, allocating 40 percent of the available funding to new business centers, the first tier; 20 percent to women’s business centers in the second tier that have completed their initial five-years of funding; and 40 percent to the third-tier business centers that have exhausted their second-tier grants. Each first-tier center would be eligible to receive up to $150,000; each second- and third-tier center could receive up to $100,000.
The bill would establish “benchmarks” based upon socio-economic factors in awarding projects to third-tier WBCs. The benchmarks would include: “the total number of women served by the project; the proportion of low-income women and socio-economic distribution of clients served by the project; the proportion of individuals in the community that are socially or economically disadvantaged (based on median income); the future fundraising and service coordination plans; the diversity of services provided; and the geographic distribution within and across the 10 regions of the Small Business Administration.”
Due to the expansion of the WBC program, the measure would prohibit women’s business centers from participating in the Small Business Development Center program.
Small Business Microlending Expansion Act
Sponsored by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), H.R. 3737 would increase participation in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) microloan program by expanding eligibility for the intermediaries that participate in the program. The microloan program works by providing intermediaries – local and community organizations – with assistance and funding to make loans to start-up, newly established, or growing small businesses. The maximum loan amount available to small businesses is $35,000.
Specifically, the bill would authorize $80 million in technical assistance and $110 million in direct loans for FY2010 and 2011 and would require the intermediaries to report on, among other provisions, the number and amounts of microloans made by each intermediary to women, low-income, veteran, disabled, and minority entrepreneurs and business owners.
