The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created by Congress in 1953 to help America's entrepreneurs form successful small enterprises. Today, SBA offices in every state, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, offer financing, training and advocacy for small firms. In addition, the SBA works with thousands of lending, educational and training institutions nationwide .

The SCORE Association (Service Corps of Retired Executives), "Counselors to America's Small Business," is a non-profit association comprised of 10,500 volunteer business counselors throughout the U.S. and its territories. There are 389 SCORE chapters in urban, suburban and rural communities. SCORE members are trained to serve as counselors, advisors, and mentors to aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners. These services are offered at no fee, as a community service.

Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) is a highly competitive program that encourages small business to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization. Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) is an important new small business program that expands funding opportunities in the federal innovation research and development arena. Central to the program is expansion of the public/private sector partnership to include the joint venture opportunities for small business and the nation's premier nonprofit research institutions. STTR's most important role is to foster the innovation necessary to meet the nation's scientific and technological challenges in the 21st century.

Congress created the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program in 1958 to fill the gap between the availability of venture capital and the needs of small businesses in start-up and growth situations. SBICs, licensed and regulated by the SBA, are privately owned and managed investment firms that use their own capital, plus funds borrowed at favorable rates with an SBA guarantee, to make loans or venture capital investments in small businesses.

SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership (OWBO) promotes the growth of women-owned businesses through programs that address business training and technical assistance and provide access to credit and capital, federal contracts, and international trade opportunities. With a women's business ownership representative in every SBA district office, a nationwide network of mentoring roundtables, women's business centers in nearly every state and territory, and the Online Women's Business Center, OWBO is helping women start and build successful businesses.

WomenBiz.gov is the gateway for women-owned businesses selling to the federal government. It is organized to target the five specific stages that a woman business owner should go through as she begins to explore whether the federal government is the right customer for her.