The 8(a) Business Development Program is a business assistance program for small disadvantaged businesses. The 8(a) Program offers a broad scope of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
Read more »Minority Owned Business Resources
Contracting Support: SBA’s Small Disadvantaged Business Registry
You do not have to submit an application to SBA for SDB status. To self-represent as an SDB, register your business in the System for Award Management. However, you and your firm must still understand the SBA eligibility criteria for SDBs.
Read more »Federal Government Designations – Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB)
The Women-Owned Small Business Program is administered by the Small Business Administration. The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract program authorizes contracting officers to set aside certain federal contracts for eligible Women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) or Economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSBs).
Read more »Frequently Asked Questions When Seeking Training and Business Assistance
The following list of resources to help you take advantage of the several free counseling and training programs that are available to assist you in starting and growing your business. From low cost business training and free mentoring, selling to government, finding access to capital and expanding your business internationally, these partners can help get
Read more »Governor’s Office of Diversity Business
The Governor’s Office of Diversity Business Enterprise (Go-DBE) encourages Minority Owned, Woman Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned and Small Business Enterprise firms interested in the state of Tennessee procurement opportunities to register for certification with the Governor’s Office of Diversity Business Enterprise. Learn more about the Governor’s Office of Diversity Business, click here.
Read more »Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone)
The HUBZone program provides contracting assistance to companies located in historically underutilized businesses zones as prescribed by the SBA. The primary purpose of the program is to encourage economic development and increase employment in these distressed urban and rural areas.
Read more »Metro Nashville Office of Women & Minority Enterprise
The Procurement Division serves as the Central Contracting Office for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Established by the City Charter, this Division serves approximately 51 departments, agencies, commissions and boards.
Read more »Tennessee Department of Transportation – Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Application
Application to become a certified DBE contractor for the TN Department of Transportation.
Read more »Tennessee Minority Supplier Development Council
The TMSDC works to build business partnerships between minority businesses (suppliers) and major corporations (purchasers). We are affiliated with the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) which has a network of more than 15,000 certified minority businesses, 3,500 major corporations, and 37 regional councils nationwide.
Read more »Tennessee Resource Map
Tennessee is home to a number of business advisers and resource providers for existing and new businesses. Pathway Lending has created the following interactive map of our statewide partners to help users find local and regional business resources and advisers.
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Blue Sky Business Modeling WorkshopThu Dec 13 2018, 11:00am CST - 1:00pm CST
Discover 9: RegistrationTue Jan 8 2019, 6:00pm CST
Blue Sky Business Modeling Workshop
Discover 9: RegistrationHow to prepare your online store for holiday shopping
5 easy ecommerce tips to attract more customers during the holidays For some businesses, the holidays provide a slow period to take care of end-of-year tasks and planning for Q1. For B2C owners, however, the holiday sales usually provide a big portion of total annual revenue. Within most retail stores, there’s a rush of customers
Getting Certified: What WBOs Need To Know
By Jacqueline Hayes, MBA Chief Marketing Strategist + Principal Crayons & Marketers – Nashville, TN The federal government’s goal is to award at least five percent of all federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses each year. This process can be daunting, but with the help of this checklist below, you will be well
An Introduction to Lean Canvas for Emerging Businesses
by: Meera Unni Lean Canvas is an exciting tool that lets new and emerging entrepreneurs model their business plans in a short, efficient, one page diagram. Using Lean Canvas quickly identifies factors to prioritize while also creating an effective jumping off point for brainstorming. Instead of making a long, detailed business plan that could take