AUSTIN — The Governor’s Office of Small Business Assistance (OSBA) announced today that it has awarded approximately $100,000 in grant funding to ten nonprofit organizations from across the state for projects promoting the development and success of small businesses in underserved markets.
Through the Office of the Governor’s joint small business initiative with the Texas Workforce Commission, the Governor’s Small Business Service Provider Grant Program offers these grants to Texas-based small business service providers to further enhance and diversify projects and activities benefiting the State’s small and historically underutilized businesses (HUBs).
Each of the selected recipients will receive a $10,000 grant to help implement new training programs, create opportunities for small businesses to obtain funding, and develop, publish and distribute useful small business-specific information. This funding will also enable small business service providers a greater degree of flexibility and creativity in their portfolio of offerings to small businesses across all communities.
The recipients of the 2016 OSBA Service Provider Grant Program include:
- County of Webb will use the grant towards funding its Webb County Small Business Service Assistance Program, which provides educational workshops to local small businesses and entrepreneurs.
- East Montgomery County Improvement District will apply the funds towards the Growth of East Montgomery County project, a series of educational seminars covering a wide range of small business related topics.
- Galveston Chamber of Commerce will utilize the funds toward its Spanish Language Business Development Workshops for bilingual, Spanish-speaking business owners within the regional chamber’s area.
- Katy Area Economic Development Council will strengthen its Katy Area Manufacturing Industry Training & Services Project for manufacturers and supply chain firms in the region.
- PeopleFund dedicates the grant to its Underserved Small Business Education and Training Program, which targets Spanish-speaking owners of family-operated businesses in the Rio Grande Valley.
- Plan Empower Grow will utilize grant funds towards conducting the North Central Texas Small Business Conference, which will provide resources and services to the minority, veteran and disabled community.
- Prairie View A&M University will use the grant to strengthen its Businesses in Development (BID) Academy Workshops which provides continuing education to small and historically underutilized businesses (HUBs).
- San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside plans to use funds for the development of the Promise Zone to Entrepreneurship Conference targeting current and prospective business owners.
- Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s grant will be used to help accelerate their expansion of existing programs and services that assist small businesses and startups through 11 counties in the Costal Bend area.
- Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce will develop a City-wide Customer Service Training for Businesses program, providing free services to representatives from any business in the Weslaco area.
To learn more about the Governor’s Office of Small Business Assistance and the Service Provider Grant Program, visit https://texaswideopenforbusiness.com/small-business/division-services.