The NVSBC Veteran Small Business Advocate of the Year Award recognizes one federal representative or…
NVSBC Included as a Spoke Grantee Partner Under the Community Navigator Pilot Program
Yesterday, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) has been named as one of only eight tier one grantees, selected as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s $100 million Community Navigator Pilot Program. As a tier one partner, the IVMF has been awarded a $5 million grant to participate in this novel program.
The National Veteran Small Business Coalition is honored to announce they have been included as a spoke grantee partner under the IVMF SBA grant.
A $5 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration will allow the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, and their spoke partner organizations like NVSBC, to support veteran businesses with entrepreneurship training, small business technical assistance, loan preparation, capital readiness, corporate and federal contracting, and networking.
The Community Navigator Pilot Program, an initiative of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, is designed to deploy trusted community partners within underserved communities across the U.S. to coordinate the economic recovery efforts of specific communities, including women, veterans and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
The Community Navigator Pilot Program takes a “hub and spoke” approach, featuring a lead “hub” at the center of a network of “spoke” organizations that deploy trusted community advocates to support small businesses hit hard by the pandemic. Of the eight Community Navigator hubs funded, IVMF is the only hub responsible for coordinating community-based, economic recovery for veteran-owned small businesses.
“We are honored to join forces with IVMF and their other spoke partners to extend our long-term partnership with the SBA and work with this new program to expand our Training, Networking and Advocacy support to Veteran Owned Small Business. This program will strengthen Veteran business Federal Procurement Readiness while leading to greater employment for tens of thousands of veterans and their families,” says Scott Jensen, NVSBC’s executive director. “Our inclusion in this strong partnership recognizes the unique capabilities and strengths that NVSBC offers to the veteran business community and the trust our partners have in NVSBC delivering quality programs to veteran businesses.”