SCORE, SBDC, and Women's Business Centers
(Entrepreneurial Development)
Small Business Administration150+ Women's Business Centers; 250 SCORE chapters with 10,000 volunteer mentors; 31 Veterans Business Outreach Centers
What This Program Does
These programs provide free or low-cost business counseling, mentoring, and training to Americans starting or growing small businesses. SCORE connects entrepreneurs with volunteer mentors, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) offer advising through local partnerships, and Women's Business Centers focus on helping women entrepreneurs. These programs have operated for decades, with SCORE founded in 1964 and SBDCs established in 1980.
Who Would Be Affected
The proposed cut would affect more than 150 Women's Business Centers serving women entrepreneurs, roughly 250 SCORE chapters supported by about 10,000 volunteer mentors, and 31 Veterans Business Outreach Centers that help veterans transition into business ownership. These services reach hundreds of thousands of aspiring and current small business owners annually, many in underserved and rural communities where private-sector alternatives may be limited.
What This Cut Would Mean
Eliminating 94% of the $0.3 billion budget would effectively shut down federally funded business counseling, mentoring, and training services across the country. The administration argues the private sector can fill this role, but independent analysts and small business advocates have raised concerns that free mentoring and counseling would largely disappear in many communities, particularly rural areas and economically disadvantaged regions where private consulting services are scarce or unaffordable. Volunteer-based programs like SCORE rely on federal funding for coordination, outreach, and infrastructure, meaning the loss of funding could dismantle networks that took decades to build.
Administration's Stated Rationale
“Business counseling services to be provided by private sector; federal subsidy eliminated.”