During visit to local D.C. small businesses, Vice President Harris will announce grants to non-profit and community-based organizations from $125 million Capital Readiness Program to support underserved small businesses' access to capital-a key pillar of Bidenomics
Today, Vice President Kamala Harris will announce the 43 winners of the $125 million American Rescue Plan-funded Capital Readiness Program (CRP) awards competition, critical funding that will help underserved entrepreneurs launch and scale their small businesses-a key pillar of Bidenomics.
The CRP is the latest American Rescue Plan investment in navigation and support services for small businesses, building upon the $300 million in funds already announced or deployed through the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Community Navigator Program and the Treasury Department's State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States has seen the strongest showing for new business applications on record-12.6 million-and recent reports show that the U.S. is continuing that trend in 2023 - a sign of confidence from entrepreneurs that Bidenomics is working. Vice President Harris will announce the awards while visiting a local D.C. minority-owned retail village, Sycamore & Oak, that houses other local small businesses.
The Capital Readiness Program is the largest-ever direct Federal investment in small business incubators and accelerators of its kind. Administered by the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), which was made permanent and expanded thanks to the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Capital Readiness Program is also the largest initiative in the over 50-year history of the MBDA.
The 43 winning organizations - a mix of non-profit and community-based organizations, private sector entities, and institutions of higher education located across the country - are forming partnerships to assist and train underserved entrepreneurs seeking resources, tools, and support to start or scale their businesses in high-growth, high-wage industries such as healthcare, climate resilient technology, asset management, infrastructure, and more.
"President Biden and I firmly believe that for America's economy to be strong, America's small businesses must be strong. I am proud to announce that we will invest an additional $125 million in small businesses across our country through a national network of small business incubators and accelerators," said Vice President Kamala Harris. "President Biden and I are fighting to ensure that every entrepreneur in America - no matter who they are or where they live - can access the capital to start or grow a business, create jobs, and thrive."
Examples of awardees include:
- Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation (Phoenix, Arizona) is receiving $3 million to deliver an enhanced business accelerator and incubator program to help underserved entrepreneurs in Arizona, Nevada, and California to access capital - including by connecting small businesses with their partners at Raza Development Fund, World Bank, and other funding entities, to help secure assistance on projects focused on renewable energy, information technology, and infrastructure development.
- Bridgeway Capital (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is receiving $2 million to serve at least 340 minority-owned and rural entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Bridgeway Capital will use CRP funds to scale up its cohort-based Regional Investments for Social and Equitable Prosperity (RISE UP) business education programs to help entrepreneurs build capacity to access revenue-generating growth opportunities and the capital needed to realize these opportunities.
- The Urban League of Greater Atlanta, Georgia is receiving $3 million to deliver incubator and accelerator services through its Entrepreneurship Center to historically underserved entrepreneurs that are starting or operating enterprises in high-growth industries including healthcare, climate-resilient technology, infrastructure, and transportation and logistics.
- The Northern Great Lakes Initiative (Marquette, Michigan) - a partnership between a community lender and a small business incubator - is receiving $3 million to create a streamlined process that will support entrepreneurs in Michigan, with an emphasis on West Michigan, from the launch of an idea, through incubation of a new business, to capital for growth.
- The Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council (Silver Spring, Maryland) is receiving $3 million to support its Ingenuity Consortium, a regional approach to supporting entrepreneurial opportunities for underserved small business owners through a collaborative of six Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions-like the University of Maryland Global Campus, Bowie State University, Morgan State University, and Virginia State University-and six capital access partners.
