Vice President Harris Announces $125M Funding For Small Businesses In Underserved Communities

Vice President Kamala Harris announces the 43 winners of the $125 million American Rescue Plan-funded Capital Readiness Program (CRP) awards competition which will help underserved entrepreneurs launch and scale their small businesses—an important pillar of Bidenomics.

The CRP is the latest American Rescue Plan investment in small business navigation and support services, adding to the $300 million already announced or deployed through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Community Navigator Program and the Treasury Department’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States has seen the highest number of new business applications on record—12.6 million—and recent reports show that the trend will continue in 2023, indicating that entrepreneurs believe Bidenomics is working.

Vice President Harris will make the announcements while visiting Sycamore & Oak, a local D.C. minority-owned retail village that also houses other local small businesses.

The Capital Readiness Program represents the most significant direct Federal investment in small business incubators and accelerators in history.

The Capital Readiness Program is administered by the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), which was made permanent and expanded thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It is also the largest initiative in the MBDA’s over 50-year history.

The 43 winning organizations, a mix of non-profit and community-based organizations, private sector entities, and institutions of higher education from across the country, are forming partnerships to assist and train underserved entrepreneurs seeking resources, tools, and support to start or scale their businesses in high-growth, high-wage industries such as healthcare, climate resilient technology, asset management, infrastructure, and more.

“President Biden and I firmly believe that for America’s economy to be strong, America’s small businesses must be strong. I am proud to announce that we will invest an additional $125 million in small businesses across our country through a national network of small business incubators and accelerators,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. “President Biden and I are fighting to ensure that every entrepreneur in America — no matter who they are or where they live — can access the capital to start or grow a business, create jobs, and thrive.”

A complete list of CRP award winners can be found here.