SBA Will Expand Nation’s Women Business Centers Network

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is pledging more support to female entrepreneurs.

President Joe Biden is set to announce the expansion of the SBA’s network of Women Business Centers, bringing the total to 160 nationwide, the White House said Monday (Mar. 27).

“These centers are specifically designed to assist women, providing training, mentoring, business development and financing opportunities, recognizing that women still face unique obstacles in the business world,” the White House said in a news release.

The Biden administration has invested close to $70 million in the network, expanding it to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, according to the release. The latest expansion will add 15 centers to the network.

PYMNTS noted some of the challenges facing female entrepreneurs earlier this month.

Access to venture capital (VC) or funding is a key example of a continued gender gap, with female-founded and led firms often struggling to get the same level of financing as their male counterparts.

Figures from the International Financial Corporation (IFC) show a $300 billion gap in financing for women-owned small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), something that remains a major constraint, especially in developing countries.

In an interview with PYMNTS, The World Bank Group Head of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) Secretariat Wendy Teleki, highlighted the effect the pandemic has had on female founders’ access to finance, making an already dire situation even worse.

“[What] I find really astounding is that during the crisis, women-led businesses, who generally are more cautious about applying for loans, have had their loan applications rejected at twice the rate of men,” Teleki said, adding that the health crisis significantly set back the progress made by women entrepreneurs.

In a separate interview, Teleki and Payoneer President Keren Levy told PYMNTS it will take a mix of education, support, skill building and digital platforms for women to close the diversity and funding gaps in the male-dominated tech and finance sectors.

Levy said a woman who is “plugged into” a senior position can have a strong influence on the DNA of a company, and by extension, the society in which it operates.

For her part, Teleki said she is optimistic about the opportunity women have to improve their skills by tapping into the strong connections they share with other women.

“Women tend to have stronger networks than men,” Teleki said. “They’re deep and personal — but they are not business networks.”