Office of Entrepreneurial Development

The Small Business Administration Office of Entrepreneurial Development is a civilian sub-agency within the Small Business Administration that administers federal contracts and grants supporting small-business entrepreneurship and development initiatives. The Office operates primarily as a grant-maker, with secondary contract activity funding training, technical assistance, and convening services through a network of nonprofit and academic recipients.

Contract activity is modest and declining. The Office has issued 95 federal contract awards cumulatively since 2012, with combined potential value of $179.8 million and $150.6 million obligated. Recent volume has contracted sharply: 6 awards in 2022, 3 in 2023, 3 in 2024, 1 in 2025, and 1 year-to-date in 2026. Among current primes, the competitive base is highly fragmented by both award count and potential value. The Association of Small Business Development Centers and Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities lead by award count with 3 awards each; Isom Events LLC commands the largest single contract at $11.1 million, followed by Analyticx LLC at $8.7 million combined across 2 awards. The vendor base spans 56 distinct primes with no dominant player—top-five primes hold 79% of recent award count but only 13% of combined potential value, reflecting a mix of high-value transactional awards and numerous smaller contracts. Set-asides are minimal: 78% of awards carry no set-aside designation, with small-business set-asides accounting for 11% and 8(a) sole-source awards 8%.

Grant activity dominates the portfolio. The Office has obligated $1.72 billion in federal grant dollars across 1,626 awards to 259 distinct recipients since 2011, with combined non-federal match bringing total obligation to $3.21 billion. Recent cadence remains robust: 185 awards in 2021, 207 in 2022, 218 in 2023, 236 in 2024, and 124 in 2025. Grants are distributed across a highly fragmented recipient base—the top five recipients by award count hold only 9% of recent grants, and the top five by federal dollars hold only 2% of obligated federal funds. Women's Economic Self-Sufficiency Team, Corp. leads by award count with 20 awards and $3.2 million federal dollars, while Indiana Economic Development Corporation commands the largest federal share at $10.7 million across 6 awards. The grant portfolio is dominated by Cooperative Agreements (59% of awards) with Project Grants comprising 41%, supporting business development and entrepreneurship services through state and local nonprofits and academic institutions. No recent contract or grant opportunities are recorded in the available data.