As a rule, neither the US government nor its small business support agency, SBA, gives grants for starting or expanding a small business. The grants they do give are "designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance". Only organizations that are engaged in supporting small businesses by providing training and other kinds of help are eligible for these SBA grants.
This page comes under the section Small Business in USA.
For government grants information, you can go to the website http://www.grants.gov/. As mentioned on the eligibility page of this site, grants are given to:
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The site allows you to search for grants to each of the above categories. We did a search for grants to small businesses, and got the list reproduced below. As you would notice, grants are given for very specific purposes, and are specifically announced with specific closing dates. Nowhere did we notice a general small business grant that you can apply any time to start your small business.
You can get the US Government publication sold by Amazon.com (see the advertisement in the left column) if you wish to explore further.
| Close Date | Opportunity Title | Agency | Funding Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04/19/2004 | Technical Assistance to plan and implement forestry practices under the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) | Virginia State Office | NRCS-VA-33A7-4-2 |
| 04/19/2004 | Technical Assistance to Plan and Implement Wildlife Habitat Plans under the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) | Virginia State Office | NRCS-VA-33A7-4-1 |
| 04/23/2004 | Detection Systems for Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasure (DSRNC) | Department of Homeland Security | BAA-04-02 |
| 07/28/2004 | Technical Services for the Environmental Quality Incentive Program and Conservation Reserve Program | Wisconsin NRCS State Office | NRCS-101-WI-04 |
| 08/19/2004 | Grazing Land Conservation Initiative Program Technical Assistance | NRCS-Arkansas State Office | NRCS-7103-4-31 |
| 09/03/2004 | Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Coordinator | Colorado State Office | NRCS-CO-4-21 |
| 09/16/2004 | Technical Assistance for Implementation of the Environmental Quality Incentive Program in Florida | Florida State Office | NRCS-EQ01-FL-04 |
| 12/29/2004 | Emergency Watershed Protection Support Services | Florida State Office | NRCS-EWP01-FL-05 |
| 01/19/2005 | Grazing Lands Initiative Coordinator | Colorado State Office | NRCS-CO-5-2 |
| 01/19/2005 | Partnerships in Implementing Patient Safety | Agency for Health Care Research and Quality | RFA-HS-05-012 |
| 03/17/2005 | Environmental Quality Incentive Program Assistance Irrigation Technical Services | California State Office | NRCS-10-CA-05 |
| 04/19/2005 | Clinical Studies of Safety and Effectiveness of Orphan Products | Food & Drug Administration | RFA-FDA-OPD-2006 |
| 03/14/2006 | Lake Okeechobee Cow/Calf Water Control Structure Technical Assistance | Florida State Office | NRCS-EM01-FL-06 |
| 04/05/2006 | Pacific Islands Area Conservation Innovation Grant FY 2006 | Hawaii State Office | NRCS-02-HI-06 |
| 04/14/2006 | Montana Conservation Innovation Grants | Montana State Office | NRCS-MT-06-2 |
| 04/17/2006 | Request for Proposals, Irrigation Design Services, Lower Hamakua Ditch Land Treatment Program (LHDLTP) | Hawaii State Office | NRCS-03-HI-06 |
| 04/19/2006 | Mississippi Conservation Innovation Grants | Mississippi State Office | NRCS-MS-06-01 |
| 02/07/2007 | Special Research Grants Program - Citrus tristeza Research | CSREES | USDA-CSREES-SRGP-000325 |
| 04/20/2007 | Utah Conservation Innovation Grant | Utah State Office | UTAH-NRCS-UT-07-01 |
| 05/07/2007 | Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders: Pathophysiological Mechanisms Linking Comorbid Conditions (R01) | National Institutes of Health | PA-07-150 |
There might be private philanthropists who might give grants to small businesspersons. Finding them is a difficult process. In our opinion, you would be better off spending your time developing a specific business plan following the guidelines provided at How to Start a Small Business section rather than trying to find FREE MONEY looking for that hard-to-find grant. You can get small business loans with the help of SBA if you take the trouble to develop a good business plan.
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Here is the OFFICIAL guide to Federal Grants and other assistance, produced by the Federal Government, with over 16,000 pages of loans, grants, surplus equipment, and training from 1482 agency programs worth $300 billion!
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