The U.S. Small Business Administration and Women Small Business Owners
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. Through all of its programs, the SBA is committed to helping women become entrepreneurs and small business owners. Women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) are one of the fastest growing segments of the small business community—while only about 5% of the privately owned businesses were owned by women in 1970, today the percentage is over 30%.
SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) serves as the strongest advocate for women business owners, both within the SBA and throughout the federal government. SBA/OWBO support women in three main areas:
Access to Capital
Access to Counseling
Access to Government Contracts
Online Resources
SBA Office of Women’s Business Ownership
http://www.sba.gov/women
Women’s Business Centers
http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_program_office/sba_ro_do_wbc.pdf
Women’s Resource Page
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/onlinewbc/resources/WBC_RESOURCES_FOR_WOMEN.html
SBA Resource Partners
SBA Small Business Training Network
http://www.sba.gov/training/index.htmlSBA Small Business Development Centers
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/sbdc/index.htmlSCORE—Counselors to America’s Small Business
http://www.score.org
Other SBA & Federal Resources
SBA Resource Library
http://www.sba.gov/tools/resourcelibrary/index.htmlWinning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs –Free Online Training
http://web.sba.gov/sbtn/registration/index.cfm?CourseId=68WomenBiz.Gov—Women’s Gateway for Federal Contracting
http://www.womenbiz.gov/Business.Gov—The Official Business Link to the U.S. Government
http://www.business.gov/Women’s Page
http://www.business.gov/industries/woman-owned/?cm_re=HomePageLinks-_-August2010-_-WomenOwnedNational Women’s Business Council
http://www.nwbc.gov/SBA Assistance for Veterans
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/ovbd/index.htmlSBA Office of Faith-Based Initiatives
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/faithbased/index.htmlU.S. Department of Commerce
http://www.commerce.gov/U.S. Department of Labor’s Womens Bureau
http://www.dol.gov/
Outside Links
Count Me In/Make Mine a Million
http://www.makemineamillion.org/
Women Impacting Public Policy
http://www.wipp.org/
Association of Women’s Business Centers
http://awbc.biz/
National Association of Women Business Owners
http://www.nawbo.org/
National Association of Female Executives
http://www.nafe.com
Center for Women’s Business Research
http://www.womensbusinessresearch.org/