Private organizations, colleges and universities, private sector firms, nonprofit organizations and state, local or tribal governmental agencies are eligible to apply for funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide training and counseling to aspiring and existing veteran small business owners as a Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC).
The grant awardees will be providing training to service members and military spouses through the Boots to Business entrepreneurship training program, which is part of the Transition Assistance Program.
Those organizations selected to receive the funding will provide training, mentoring and SBA resource navigation to veterans, active duty service members, Reserve, National Guard and military spouses interested in starting or growing a small business.
Each award is made for a base project period of 12 months, with four 12-month option periods.
“SBA’s VBOCs are the boots on the ground when it comes to serving existing and prospective veteran entrepreneurs,” said Barb Carson, Associate Administrator, SBA Office of Veterans Business Development. “Every entrepreneurship journey is different, and each VBOC brings something unique to the table. We’re excited to see this diversity represented in the upcoming applicant pool.”
SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development will host a conference call on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 3:00 p.m. EST to provide details on how to apply for the VBOC grant and to answer any questions about the funding program. Dial in to 888-858-2144, and use the access code 5817583#. Instructions on joining the call will also be posted on www.sba.gov/ovbd, and on grants.gov.
To submit your application for the VBOC-2018-01 grant:
- Go to the www.grants.gov portal.
- Click on “Applicants” tab.
- Then click on “Apply for Grants”.
- Follow the “Search” tab and type in “VBOC” in the keyword block to pull up grant announcement VBOC-2018-01.
- Click on the “Package” tab, and then click on “Apply” to fill out the application form.
Applications submitted via other media, including SBA’s website, will be rejected and will not be evaluated. Applications must be submitted via grants.gov no later than 4 p.m. EST on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018. Direct any questions about the VBOC funding opportunity to Janet Moorman via email at Janet.Moorman@sba.gov.
