Native American Small Business Development Act
Key claim: HR2538 would authorize additional SBA grants of up to $300,000 per fiscal year to Small Business Development Centers in eligible states to provide outreach and development services for small businesses owned by Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians on Indian lands.
Abstract
(HR2538 · 107th Congress) Native American Small Business Development Act - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize a Small Business Development Center in an eligible State to apply for an additional Small Business Administration grant to be used solely to provide specified services to assist with outreach, development, and enhancement on Indian lands of small business startups and expansions that are owned by Indian tribe members, Alaska Natives, or Native Hawaiians (members and Natives) and that are located in Alaska or Hawaii, or on Indian lands in the 48 contiguous States. Defines an eligible State as one in which such members, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians comprise at least one percent of its population. Limits each recipient to $300,000 in such grants in a fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations. Requires a State receiving a small business development center program grant to request the advice of the governing bodies of Indian tribes, corporations organized pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and other Alaska Native entities, and Native Hawaiian organizations, as appropriate, on how best to provide assistance to such members, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and where to locate satellite centers to provide such assistance. Latest action (2002-04-30): Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Joint hearings held with Indian Affairs.
Why this matters
Small Business Development Centers are a key channel for entrepreneurship and workforce training assistance, and expanding their grant authority to serve Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities on Indian lands could broaden employment and business-ownership pathways in historically underserved areas. For workers, this could mean more locally accessible training and job creation in tribal enterprises; for employers and SBDCs, it would open a dedicated federal funding stream capped at $300,000 per fiscal year.