The US Small Business Administration (SBA) has launched a $6 million national grant competition to establish regional support networks for female entrepreneurs across eight US states and territories.
Announced on 21 July 2026, the Women’s Business Centre Modernisation Initiative aims to build statewide systems consisting of a central Lead Centre and regional Service Centres. The competition uses statutory funds and restricts applications to regions where existing funding has failed to match the expansion of female-led firms. Selected areas include Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana, West Virginia, Wyoming and the US Virgin Islands.
The new grant scheme functions as a stand-alone project and will not alter existing Women’s Business Centre allocations. All 138 existing centres will retain their FY26 base awards under current cooperative agreements.
To qualify for funding, applicants must be private non-profit corporations holding active 501(c) federal tax-exempt status in the US. Organisations must also demonstrate an established financial management system complying with federal regulations and deliver technical assistance to business owners.
Grant amounts are calculated using a population-based formula. Under the breakdown, Texas will receive the largest allocation at $2,084,765 for a population of 29,145,505. Florida receives $1,540,617 for 21,538,187 residents, while Pennsylvania is allocated $930,077 for a population of 13,002,700. Tennessee is set to receive $494,329, Louisiana $333,167, West Virginia $250,000, Wyoming $250,000 and the US Virgin Islands $200,000.
The Women’s Business Centre Program was created nearly 40 years ago under the Reagan Administration to provide guidance, training and resources to female business founders. Submissions for the modernisation grant close on 10 August 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said: “Amid record business formation in 2026, the WBC Modernization Initiative is designed to deliver a broader range of statewide resources for women entrepreneurs where business starts are growing the fastest – but where funding has fallen behind. By building coordinated networks of Lead and Service Centers, SBA is aligning counseling, training, and access to capital in a single, connected statewide system that keeps pace with entrepreneurs’ needs and helps more women start and grow businesses that create jobs and strengthen communities nationwide,”
Loeffler added: “Notably, as I testified last week, the Biden Administration failed to meet statutory grant deadlines for years, and the Trump SBA is not only addressing these administrative failures by providing the funding but modernizing programs that had been treated as box-checking exercises. American taxpayers deserve to know that any dollar deployed is being managed for return on investment.”
