$2.5 Million Grant to the Community Students Learning Center, Lexington, Mississippi

Washington D.C. – Today, Congressman Bennie Thompson announced the Community Students Learning Center in Lexington, Mississippi will be awarded a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration's Community Navigator Pilot Grant Program. The Community Navigator Pilot Program, a Biden-Harris Administration's American Rescue Plan initiative, was designed to reduce barriers that all small businesses, including those owned by disadvantaged groups such as veterans, women, and those from rural communities and communities of color, often face in accessing critical support. The Community Navigator Pilot Program provides funding for local groups to connect America's entrepreneurs to government resources so they can recover and thrive.

About the Community Navigator Pilot Program:
Utilizing a "hub and spoke" model from public health care federal programming, the SBA's Community Navigator Pilot Program will help level the playing field for America's entrepreneurs, especially our underserved women, people of color, veterans, and rural and low-income communities. Grantee "hubs" will serve as centralized, lead organizations, and will incorporate "spokes" to leverage partnerships with deeply trusted community-based organizations to help small businesses navigate government resources and tap into critical resources.

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