GAO-25-107067
Background
Racial and ethnic minorities, women, tribal groups, and other communities have historically faced barriers to accessing credit, capital, and other resources necessary to start and grow businesses, according to SBA. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 directed SBA to establish the Community Navigator Pilot Program, a new, short-term business assistance program to serve these communities.
GAO was asked to review the Community Navigator Pilot Program. This report examines (1) how the program reached underserved small business owners, (2) the program’s alignment with leading practices for pilot program design, and (3) the program’s efforts to manage fraud risk.
GAO analyzed SBA documents, interviewed officials, and compared the pilot program design and fraud risk management processes against leading practices. GAO also analyzed SBA and Census data and interviewed 18 navigators (chosen to reflect a mix of grant amounts, regions, and organization types) about their activities. GAO conducted three site visits reflecting a mix of geographic regions and organization types.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that SBA (1) evaluate the Navigator Program, incorporating a scalability assessment and input from a broad array of SBA staff and partner organizations; and (2) implement procedures for competitive grant program application reviews to obtain relevant information from district office staff with knowledge of applicants. SBA agreed with both recommendations.
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