Kerry, Snowe Move to Save Women’s Business Centers from the Chopping Block

[kerrygoddess]

Kerry, Snowe Move to Save Women’s Business Centers from the Chopping Block
July 28th, 2005

Yesterday, Senators John Kerry and Olympia Snowe introduced and passed legislation that authorizes the S.B.A. to continue funding eleven women’s business centers that are scheduled to be closed at the end of the year.

The eleven centers, known as sustainability centers, were the first to receive grants under the Women’s Business Center Sustainability pilot program authored by Kerry in 1999 (PL 106-165). However, due to a technical provision in the law, these centers would be ineligible for additional funding after the end of this fiscal year. The Snowe-Kerry legislation (S.1517) would allow these eleven centers to continue assisting women-owned businesses with their access to capital, contracting, and business management needs by extending their sustainability grants for one year.

The eleven centers (scheduled to be closed) are in: Oakland, Calif.; Ukiah, Calif.; Denver, Colo.; Boston, Mass.; Augusta, Maine; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Fosston, Minnesota; Las Cruces, N.M.; Medford, Oregon; Philadelphia, Penn.; and Milwaukee, Wisc. As a whole, the women’s business center network reached over 122,000 clients last year, up from 8,000 in 1999.

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