Isabel Casillas Guzman, administrator of the Small Business Administration, has announced a new funding opportunity to drive small business development.
Awards made through the solicitation will support the SBA’s Regional Innovation Cluster, or RIC, initiative and will be issued at both the emerging and mature cluster levels, the agency said Friday.
“Our two new funding levels will support both emerging and mature industry clusters and help ensure small business innovators have access to the technical assistance, industry knowledge, and capital products necessary to start and grow their businesses,” Guzman explained in a statement.
Launched in 2010, the RIC program seeks to establish and promote networks of clusters, or geographically concentrated teams of interconnected businesses, suppliers and associated entities, to help small businesses grow in their respective industries.
Emerging clusters provide small business assistance in their specific regions and industries, while mature clusters include organizations with experience in creating and implementing programming to support small businesses.
The Office of Investment and Innovation’s Investment and Innovation Ecosystem Development will hold a webinar on July 9 to discuss the funding opportunity. The RIC solicitation is open until July 26.