Washington, D.C., April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yesterday evening the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6441, The Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act of 2022, cosponsored by Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS) and Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY). Upon passage of the bill the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) CEO Corinne Goble Hodges released the following statement, which was also included in Congresswoman Sharice Davids’ press release:
Statement from Corinne Goble Hodges, CEO of the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC):
“On behalf of 141 women’s business centers (WBCs) nationwide, we applaud the House of Representatives’ passage of HR 6441, the Women's Business Centers Improvement Act of 2022 and commend Representatives Sharice Davids and Claudia Tenney for championing this effort.
Strengthening the Women’s Business Center program is the most tangible policy Congress can enact to support America’s 12.3 million women entrepreneurs that continue to be disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This legislation is a significant step towards economic parity for women entrepreneurs across the nation, and we call on the Senate to take similar action.”
H.R. 6441 would officially reauthorize the program, increase the grant cap from $150,000 to $300,000 per WBC, establish an accreditation program for WBCs, and grant authority to explore new ways for WBCs to serve women entrepreneurs, and increase authorization levels to a record $31.5M. The WBC program needs modernization – this legislation will strengthen the impact, support, and capacity of the 141 WBCs in their support of tens of thousands of women entrepreneurs across the nation, providing room for the program to grow in line with the explosive growth of America’s women entrepreneurs.
Earlier this year, AWBC hosted the Association Board and Advocacy Committee Members, made up of Executive Directors from around the nation, met with legislators from their hometowns, and leadership in the Small Business Administration including Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and Natalie Madeira Cofield, head of the Office of Women’s Business Ownership, to discuss the reauthorization of the bill: The Women’s Business Center Improvement Act of 2022. Previously, AWBC joined Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS), the Kansas City Women’s Business Center, and Kansas City women business owners in a roundtable to discuss the challenges facing female entrepreneurs and the impact of this legislation.
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About the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC)
The AWBC (www.awbc.org) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1998 to support the national network of Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) with programming and advocacy. Each year, our members leverage WBC grants to operate more than 150 locations throughout the United States. WBCs have more than 30 years of success in providing business training, counseling, mentoring, and access to capital to women entrepreneurs. The WBC program is a public-private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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