SBA Awards $5 Million in PRIME Grants

Funds Finance Training & Technical Assistance to Disadvantaged Entrepreneurs; Capacity Building to Provider Organizations

News provided by

U.S. Small Business Administration

Sep 18, 2015, 12:56 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thirty-nine community-based organizations across the United States that provide assistance to disadvantaged entrepreneurs are set to receive $5 million in grants from the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Program for Investment in Micro-Entrepreneurs (PRIME). These organizations help low-income entrepreneurs gain access to capital to establish and expand their small businesses.

"By training low-income and disadvantaged micro-entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses, particularly through the smart use of information technology, the PRIME Program helps small businesses thrive in a 21st century economy," said Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the SBA. "The beauty of PRIME is that it assists small businesses and micro-entrepreneurs to become lender ready, complementing the roughly $140 million approved this year through SBA's mission-based lending programs."

This year's 39 recipients come from 16 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The grants range from $35,000 to $200,000 and typically require at least 50 percent in matching funds or in-kind contributions. In total, 104 organizations applied for PRIME awards.

SBA placed special emphasis in this year's competition on applications for projects utilizing information technology and software to help small businesses start, strengthen and/or grow. Assisting small businesses with the tools needed to implement automated financial accounting, financial reporting, inventory management and web-based marketing and distribution is emerging as an industry best practice among SBA's most successful microlenders.

This year's awards also emphasized organizations participating in SBA's Community Advantage Program. This program provides mission-oriented, non-profit lenders access to SBA's 7(a) loan guarantees to help small businesses that have outgrown microlending but are not able to access more traditional financing, including funding from SBA commercial lending partners. Twenty SBA Community Advantage lenders submitted applications, and 13 were selected for PRIME awards.

PRIME was created by Congress as part of the Program for Investment in microentrepreneurs Act of 1999. Funds become available on September 30 and the grant is for one year.

For more information on PRIME grants and a list of this year's grantees, visit http://www.sba.gov/content/prime-grantees.

GRANTEE	CITY	STATE
Communities Unlimited, Inc.	Fayetteville	AR
Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association	Salinas	CA
Ampac Tri-State CDC	Grand Terrace	CA
Fresno Community Development Financial Institution	Fresno	CA
OBDC Small Business Finance	Oakland	CA
Pacific Asian Consortium In Employment (PACE)	Los Angeles	CA
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center	San Francisco	CA
Valley Economic Development Center	Van Nuys	CA
Vermont-Slauson LDC, Inc.	Los Angeles	CA
Credit Builders Alliance	Washington	DC
Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corporation	Tampa	FL
Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation	London	KY
Harbor Bank CDC	Baltimore	MD
Maryland Capital Enterprise	Easton	MD
MaineStream Finance	Bangor	ME
Justine Petersen Housing and Reinvestment Corporation	St. Louis	MO
Montana Community Development Corporation	Missoula	MT
Greater Newark Enterprises Corporation	Newark	NJ
Union County Economic Development Corporation (UCEDC)	Cranford	NJ
Business Outreach Center Network, Inc.	Brooklyn	NY
CAMBA, Inc.	Brooklyn	NY
Community Capital New York, Inc.	Hawthorne	NY
Ibero American Action League, Inc.	Rochester	NY
NYBDC Local Development Corporation	Albany	NY
Economic and Community Development Institute	Columbus	OH
Cherokee Nation	Tahlequah	OK
Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Inc.	Durant	OK
Adelante Mujeres	Forest Grove	OR
Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon	Portland	OR
Community Capital Works (dba Entrepreneur Works Fund)	Philadelphia	PA
FINANTA	Philadelphia	PA
The Enterprise Center	Philadelphia	PA
Corp. Para El Financiamiento Empresarial Del Com. Y De Las Comunidades (COFECC)	San Juan	PR
Southeast Community Capital Corporation dba Pathway Lending	Nashville	TN
LiftFund, Inc.	San Antonio	TX
National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders	San Antonio	TX
PeopleFund	Austin	TX
Washington Community Alliance for Self-Help	Seattle	WA
Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation	Milwaukee	WI