SBA Launches Sen. Kelly’s ‘Community Navigator Pilot’ Program

$100 million competitive grant program to strengthen outreach to businesses in underserved communities enacted through the American Rescue Plan

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it is accepting applications for its new Community Navigator Pilot Program. This new initiative, championed by Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and established in the American Rescue Plan, will leverage a community navigator approach to reach small businesses, with a priority focus on those owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as well as women and veterans. 

“I’ve spoken to small businesses in every corner of Arizona. Far too many of them, especially tribal and minority-owned businesses and those in rural communities, have been unable to get the support they need,” said Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. “It’s why I fought to include the Community Navigator Program in the American Rescue Plan because it will help meet Arizona small businesses right in their communities, including providing assistance for Spanish-speakers, and get them the relief they need to keep their doors open and workers on payroll.”

“The Community Navigator Pilot Program is a crucial addition to our SBA programs because it helps us to connect with small businesses that have historically been underserved or left behind. These businesses – the smallest of the small in rural and urban America, and those owned by women, people of color, or veterans – have suffered the greatest economic loss from this pandemic,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. “We’ll be using a hub and spoke model in local regions across the nation to bridge the gap between local entrepreneurs and SBA’s resources and programs. If we’re going to build back better, we need to ensure that all entrepreneurs have the support they need to recover.”

“Our small business owners—especially those owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, people of color, women, veterans, and Native Americans—they need us the most, and they need us now,” said SBA Associate Administrator for the Office for Entrepreneurial Development Mark Madrid. “This initiative underscores our Agency’s commitment to connecting distressed small business resources with SBA resources and grant funding.”

“The SBA understands the importance of partnering with organizations as well as smaller, local institutions that are already embedded in the fabric of the Main Street business communities they serve,” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Women’s Business Ownership Natalie Madeira Cofield. “Community Navigators are the backbone of aiding underserved and underrepresented communities across the nation with recovery.”

In early March, Kelly wrote to President Biden and congressional leaders urging the establishment of a Community Navigator Pilot Program in the American Rescue Plan to ensure that more Arizona small businesses could access federal relief provided by this COVID-19 relief legislation.

When to Apply:

• SBA will accept applications through July 12, 2021, and anticipates making award decisions by August 2021.

Who is Eligible:

• The Community Navigator Notice of Funding Opportunity will be open to applications from nonprofit organizations, state, local, and tribal governments, SBA resource partners, and other organizations. Selected partners will engage in targeted outreach for small businesses in underserved communities to help small businesses get the resources and support they need to get back on track as the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

About the Grant:

• Competitive grant awards will range from $1 million to $5 million for a two-year performance period. Applicants have until July 12, 2021, to submit their applications at grants.gov. Performance periods are projected to commence in September 2021. Those eligible to apply must meet and demonstrate abilities to support the requirements of this funding opportunity.

For more information on the Community Navigators Initiative, please visit www.sba.gov/navigators