CWE Grant Programs for Texas Women Entrepreneurs
One of the biggest obstacles for women-owned businesses is funding. The Center for Women Entrepreneurs (CWE), at Texas Woman’s University is addressing this through grants. The CWE offered its first grant program in 2018. The purpose of this and our other grant programs is to foster greater economic development in Texas. 192 women have now been awarded grants from six different grant programs.
These grants have helped women pivot during COVID-19, purchase much needed equipment or machinery for their businesses, invest in technology, purchase inventory, and implement growth plans. The investment in these businesses has increased job growth and added to the tax base of Texas.
Each program comes with entrepreneurial training specific for the grant. The basic programming includes sessions on business fundamentals such as legal entities, bookkeeping, business planning, insurance and marketing. The Veteran Grant education program brings in veteran business partners, nonprofits and owners as instructors.
The CWE will offer three grant programs in 2022:
1. AdvanceHER Grant
$25,000 – 10 winners
February 4 – March 25, 2022
This grant is for high-growth companies with 3-20 full-time W-2 employees. Preference to businesses focused on Information technology, Life Science, Clean Energy and Advanced manufacturing.
2. Veteran Women Entrepreneur Grant
$5,000 – 10 winners
April 25 – May 27, 2022
This grant is to encourage and enable veteran woman-owned small businesses to undertake new and innovative projects.
3. StartHER grant
$5,000 – 25 winners
September 22 – October 21, 2022
The StartHER Grant Program helps women business owners—current or aspiring—with the resources needed to undertake new and innovative projects.
About the Author
Tracy Irby is the director for Texas Woman’s University Center for Women Entrepreneurs and can be reached at [email protected]. For more information regarding TWU’s Center for Women Entrepreneurs, visit twu.edu/cwe. The Center for Women Entrepreneurs is part of TWU’s Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership. The JNIWL is dedicated to preparing women to take on successful roles in business and public service
