Award type: project grant

This two-year, $1 million Project Grant from the Small Business Administration's Office of Entrepreneurial Development will fund the Rockwood Community Development Corporation to provide Community Navigator services under the Community Navigator Pilot Program. As a Community Navigator hub, Rockwood CDC will deliver one-on-one counseling and group training to increase small business participation in COVID-19 relief programs and recovery services. Specifically, they will provide high-quality support and technical assistance to historically underserved small businesses, including those owned by minorities, veterans, women, rural entrepreneurs, and the disabled. Rockwood CDC will serve as a hub and utilize contractor spokes to deliver these services across the Gresham, Oregon region through November 2023. They will report on outreach activities and goals progress to the SBA on a quarterly basis. This award aims to support pandemic relief and recovery for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses through $1M in Community Navigator services as authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Activities

Provide high quality support and technical assistance with pandemic relief programs and recovery services to small businesses.; deliverables: grantees will provide reports on activities and progress toward stated goals to SBA on a quarterly basis.

Expected outcomes

Increase awareness of and participation in programs of the u.s small business administration and other government agencies.

Intended beneficiaries

Small businesses and entrepreneurs that fall into a historically underserved category, including minority entrepreneurs (black, indigenous, and people of color), entrepreneurs with disabilities, lgbtq entrepreneurs, rural entrepreneurs; veterans and military entrepreneurs (including spouses), women entrepreneurs, innovative startups, micro businesses, and socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses

Subrecipient activities

Grantees (hubs) and their contractors (spokes) will provide high quality support and technical assistance with pandemic relief programs and recovery services to small businesses. This support takes the form of 1:1 counseling and group trainings.