Part B · Startup-relevant scheme
Women's Business Centers (WBC)
Small Business Administration
Other
IdeationSeed / Early-Stage
WBCs are SBA resource-partner centers, established in 1988, that provide business training and counseling to entrepreneurs — particularly women who are economically or socially disadvantaged — in finance, management, marketing, and technology.
Type of support
Other
Best suited for
Ideation / Early-Stage
Headline amount
N/A — free or low-cost training and counseling
How much
Free or nominal cost
Objectives
Help women overcome persistent barriers to starting and growing small businesses by pairing free or low-cost training with direct access to SBA lending and contracting programs.
Who can apply?
- Open to any aspiring or existing entrepreneur (the network is chartered to prioritize women, but services are broadly available).
- No cost or nominal cost for most services.
- About 100 centers nationwide plus territories, each independently run by a host nonprofit or institution.
What do you get?
- Free or low-cost training in finance, marketing, and management, often in multiple languages.
- Direct referral into SBA loan and federal-contracting programs.
- Businesses assisted by a WBC show meaningfully better survival rates than the overall small-business population.
How to apply
Find your nearest center via SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership locator and contact it directly — there is no separate national application.
Key links
SBA — Women's Business Centerswww.sba.gov/local-assistance/resource-partners/womens-business-centers
Details as most recently confirmed against the official source linked above. Deadlines, amounts and windows change — verify on the official portal before applying.