WASHINGTON – On Thursday, October 28, the U.S. SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and Associate Administrator Mark Madrid, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, will announce awardees of the SBA’s Community Navigator Pilot Program. Announced recipients will participate in the $100 million Community Navigator Pilot Program, an American Rescue Plan initiative designed to reduce barriers that underrepresented and underserved entrepreneurs often face in accessing the programs they need to recover, grow, or start their businesses. 

Through the pilot program, funding will be distributed amongst grantee organizations (“hubs”) that will empower them to engage local community entities (“spokes”) tasked with improving access to, and knowledge of, SBA and government resources for America’s small business owners.  

WHEN:                 

Thursday, October 28, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. ET

WHERE:                

Virtual: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1611656138 (Media: RSVP by emailing [email protected].)

WHO:                     

Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, U.S. Small Business Administration

Associate Administrator Mark Madrid, U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Entrepreneurial Development

Rep. Cedric Richmond, The White House, Senior Advisor and Director of the Office of Public Engagement

Select Community Navigator Pilot Program Awardees

WHY: Under Administrator Guzman’s direction to place equity at the heart of all SBA programs, the American Rescue Plan-funded Community Navigator Pilot Program will serve as a critical initiative in fulfilling the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring the nation’s small businesses receive support and access to federal relief programs that can help them build back better and thrive beyond the pandemic.