U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Procurement and Grants Management, 409 3rd Street, SUITE 5000,5th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20416

L -- WOMEN'S BUSINESS CENTER (WBC) PROGRAM SOL OWBO-2000-013 DUE 040300 POC Sally Murrell, WBC Program Manager (202) 205-6673 or Mina A. Wales, Agreement Officer (202) 205-7080 This document contains modifications to Program Announcement No. OWBO-2000-013 and extends the closing date for applications from March 1, 2000 until April 3, 2000. SBA must receive applications/proposals by 4:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date of the application period. On December 15, 1999, the SBA issued a Commerce Business Daily Notice of its intent to issue Program Announcement No. OWBO-2000-013 to invite applications from eligible non-profit organizations to conduct Women's Business Center projects. The authorizing legislation is the Small Business Act, sub-section 2(h) and 29, 15 U.S.C. sub-section 631 (h) and 656. The closing date for the program announcement application period was March 1, 2000. Two corrections are made by this Notice regarding timing of proof of Federal tax-exempt status and the eligibility of current or graduated WBC Program recipients requesting funding for a second WBC Program grant to serve a different geographic area. The closing date for the applicationperiod is also extended from March 1, 2000 to April 3, 2000. First, Program Announceemnt No. OWBO-2000-013 is amended by revising Section V., "Eligible Applicants for this Cooperative Agreement," Item Number 2, p. 9, to read as follows: An eligible applicant for the Women's Business Center Program must document in its application that it: ...2 has received 501(c) Federal tax-exempt status from the United States Department of Treasury/Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or will provide SBA with such documentation on or before May 1, 2000;... This revision will allow applicants more time to receive the required evidence of 501(c) Federal tax-exempt status from the IRS. The previous provision requried evidence of 501(c) Federal tax-exempt status by the original closing date of the application period of March 1, 2000. Due to a statutory amendment in the Women's Business Centers Sustainablity Act of 1999, P.L. 106-165, an applicant must receive 501(c) Federal tax-exempt status in order to be eligible as a WBC Program recipient. 15 U.S.C. sub-section 656(a) (2) and (b). Second, Program Announcement No. OWBO-013 is amended by deleting Section VI., "Ineligible Applicants for this Cooperative Agreement," Item Number 6, p. 10 which reads as follows: 6. Any organization that has or is receiving WBC program funding from the SBA. (This includes current and all graduated Women's Business Centers participating in SBA's WBC Program). This deletion allows currently SBA-funded and graduated WBC Program recipients to apply under Program Announcement No. OWBO-2000-013. It is the policy of the SBA to only allow such applications where the proposal will serve women in a geographic area completely different from the geographic area the WBC currently serves. For example, if a current WBC Program recipeint provides services covering an entire State, in order to be considered eligible for a second WBC Program grant, that WBC Program recipient's second application must cover an area outside of the State covered in the original WBC Program grant. Posted 02/23/00 (W-SN427829). (0054)

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