U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans introduces bill to help small business development centers nationwide

U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), U.S. Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS) and U.S. Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) recently joined together to introduce H.R. 1702, the Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2017.

The Act is a bipartisan bill that amends the Small Business Act to improve the SBDC program nationwide. The bill specifically amends the Small Business Act to provide a variety of services including grants, financial assistance, loans, export assistance, subcontracting opportunities on federal contracts to specific business owners and other critical services to small businesses.

SBA awards funding to for entrepreneurship training

The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded $300,000 in Women Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Program grants to three organizations, including Bunker Labs in Philadelphia, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University and the San Antonio Lift Fund.

The funding opportunity, offered by SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development, supports each organization’s entrepreneurial training programs for women who are veterans, service members, and spouses of veterans and service members. Each awardee was chosen based on their demonstrated history of and commitment to providing training programs and resources to women.

Bunker Labs has received a $90,000 grant from the SBA for Entrepreneurial Program for Innovation and Collaboration (EPIC) and Bunker in a Box training initiatives.

Bunker Labs provides education, mentoring and networking opportunities to help military veterans start and grow their businesses. EPIC is a 14-week training course offered by Bunker Labs where participants meet weekly while also having access to the online “Bunker in a Box.”

The program is offered in Chicago, Philadelphia, Redwood City, Nashville, Austin, Minneapolis, New York City, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Raleigh-Durham, Madison and Washington, D.C.

New WHYY announces general manager, reporter

WHYY, a public media provider, announced staff changes.

Naomi Starobin was named the new radio general manager at WHYY. In her role, she will manage radio operations and oversee the organization’s radio schedule. Starobin was editor for WHYY’s Keystone Crossroads, a collaboration between four public media newsrooms which explores the urgent challenges pressing upon Pennsylvania’s cities. She also creates and hosts the Keystone Crossroads podcast Grapple which lets listeners delve into the challenges of living and working in once vibrant communities across the state through personal narratives, in-depth analysis and long-form storytelling.

Chris Barrish joined WHYY as an education reporter in the Delaware bureau. Barrish is a national award-winning investigative reporter with deep roots in the First State. He left the News Journal in 2015 after a storied career, during which he won the University of Colorado/Denver Press Club Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting, and Best of Gannett for his Pulitzer-nominated series of investigative stories about failed efforts by police, prosecutors and medical officials to stop a pedophile pediatrician. Barrish recently was director of Strategic Development for Connections Community Support Programs, Inc., a nonprofit social services and health care organization.

Philly Fed appoints new member

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has appointed Amey R. Sgrignoli, president and CEO of Belco Community Credit Union, to its Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council.

The CDIAC is a 12-member council composed of representatives from commercial banks, thrift institutions and credit unions. The council convenes twice a year with officials from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to share insights on economic and business trends facing community depository institutions in their local markets.

— Compiled by Ayana Jones