Today, U.S. Rep. Castor (FL14) announced a $420k Small Business Administration grant for the Tampa Bay Women’s Business Centre at the Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women. The grant will fund the Centre’s CARES Project which is designed to help female entrepreneurs and business owners with training, education, and counseling as they navigate the impact of the COVID-19 virus.

“The Centre for Women provides crucial assistance to small business owners. Its services are especially vital during the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout,” said Castor. “The Women’s Business Centre will assist women-owned, small businesses to apply for emergency assistance and achieve greater economic security for their families – in short mitigate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time of uncertainty, I’m grateful that our Tampa area community can rely on The Centre for Women to support the local businesses that make Tampa so special.”

“The grant will make it possible to expand staff and technology at our current site and open a satellite office in St. Petersburg to more conveniently serve clients in Pinellas County,” said Ann W. Madsen, Executive Director of the Centre for Women and Vice Chair of the Association of Women’s Business Centers.

The Tampa Bay Women’s Business Centre is the only SBA-designated women’s business centre on the west coast of Florida. It opened in 2013 and with the help of Congresswoman Kathy Castor secured a grant from the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership in 2014 to become part of the network of 117 Women’s Business Centers nationwide.

Since the Tampa Bay Women’s Business Centre first opened, thousands of women have received counseling and help with access to capital.

Rep. Castor has worked to secure millions of dollars in COVID-19 aid for Tampa small businesses, nonprofits and other local economic engines provided through the four Coronavirus relief packages passed by Congress.

For more information about the program contact the Centre for Women at 813-251-8437 or check out the website, www.thecentre.org. Executive Director Ann Madsen will join Rep. Castor for her 7th coronavirus town hall today, May 5 at 4:30pm- join by dialing 855-436-3668.