Isabella
Casillas Guzman, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), recently announced $3 million in new funding for state governments to help emerging
small businesses across America develop their cybersecurity infrastructure – a
priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, outlined in the President’s Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law (BIL).
As part of the Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot
Program, through the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, state governments
are eligible to compete for grants that will help deliver cybersecurity
assistance to nascent and start-up business owners. Applications will be
accepted from Jan. 26, 2022, through March 3, 2022.
“Throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses have adopted technology at high rates
to survive, operate, and grow their businesses. As a result, cybersecurity has
become increasingly important as now, more than ever before, small business
owners face cyber risks and challenges that could disrupt their operations and
competitive advantages. As we seek to build a stronger and more inclusive
entrepreneurial ecosystem, we must innovate and provide resources to meet the
evolving needs of the growing number of small businesses. With this new funding
opportunity, the SBA intends on leveraging the strengths across our state governments,
territories, and tribal governments to provide services to help small
businesses get cyber ready and, in the process, fortify our nation’s supply
chains,” said Guzman said.
“The
bottom line is we must do more to help small businesses combat cybersecurity
threats, which continue to increase, evolve and inhibit,” said Mark Madrid, SBA
associate administrator for the Office of Entrepreneurial Development. “This pilot program will empower state governments to
expand existing services, innovate, adapt to current environments, develop new
resources and scale solutions to assist more small businesses. Additionally,
expanding access to underserved and underrepresented small business ecosystems
will be a critical marker of success.”
About
the Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot Program
Eligible
applicants are comprised of state governments that seek to provide training,
counseling, remediation, and other tailored cybersecurity services for emerging
small firms in multiple industries. Grantees will be awarded up to $1 million
to assist small businesses.
Funding
details and requirements are available at Grants.gov under “Cybersecurity
for Small Business Pilot” (Funding Opportunity Number
SB-OEDCS-22-001/CDFA 59.079) offered by the SBA. Applications must be submitted
by the stated deadline on the official grant application portal as stated in
the funding announcement.
To
learn more about SBA’s programs and services related to cybersecurity,
visit www.sba.gov/cybersecurity.
To
find additional SBA local resources, visit www.sba.gov/local-assistance.