Small Business Grants for Veterans

The Obama administration recently passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 which set aside 787 billion dollars to revitalize the ailing economy. Out of the 787 billion dollars 275 billion dollars have been earmarked as federal government grants. You can avail grants from this sum if you meet the strict eligibility criteria. Financial assistance received through government grants is the best way to fund a business as the money need not be repaid.

The government grants are mostly given to nonprofit organizations and institutes working towards the betterment of society. The government also provides financial aid to business dealing with renewable energy and energy efficiency solution providers. The Obama government has even set up a task force on veterans small business development to support veterans run and start their businesses.

If you are looking for grants, then one of the things you could do is talk to the officer with the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA has set up the Office of Veterans Business Development, and you can check out the location of an office near you on the SBA website. The SBA is also the right place to check for small business grants for disabled veterans and small business grants for women.

Another resource for checking small business government grants for veterans is the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistant (CFDA) website. The website has free details of over two thousand federal assistance programs. The website also has a help desk number which you can call for assistance regarding government small business grants and loans.

The local chapter of the Chamber of Commerce is also a good start if you are looking for small business loans and grants for veterans. They have several funding opportunities and if you fit the eligibility criteria you could qualify for a grant and if not you could check their list of available loan opportunities. They have specific grants like small business grants for minorities and women which you could apply for.

If you have seen advertisements that offer financing for veterans for a small fee, stay away as most of the information they offer is available free on the government grants website. If you have identified the grant which best qualifies you from the CFDA website, you can use the CFDA number to apply for that particular grant on the governments grant website.

There are several new funding opportunities under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) which a veteran can take advantage of. The details for these new opportunities is made available by the administration on its government recovery website. The 275 billion dollars worth of grants are set to be made available over a period of ten years with most of them being given out in the first three years.

Another resource for loans for veterans is the nonprofit organizations (NPOs). There are many NPOs who work for the betterment of veterans and their families. The Internet is the best resource for finding an organization which will accommodate your needs. Try organizations like 'Rotary' as they have a lot of community development programs under which they could provide financial help for veterans.

The US Department of Commerce has a Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) which is another place for you to check for grants for veterans from the minority community. It is advisable to invest some time in researching for grants as the financial reward is well worth the effort.