TULSA – A new Women’s Business Center planned in Tulsa will be a resource stop for entrepreneurs looking to set up shop or expand, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The center, planned by the SBA in partnership with the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, will be operated by U.S. Black Chambers Inc. Though it has been envisioned as a resource to serve women and Black women entrepreneurs especially, it will serve small business owners in general across the Tulsa metro area, SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said.

“Each new Women’s Business Center that we open holds the promise of the many rising entrepreneurs who will use its services to start their businesses, build their networks and find the tools and resources they need to grow and thrive,” Casillas Guzman said. “This year, as we mark the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre and recognize the powerful role that Tulsa’s Greenwood District plays in our nation’s reckoning with racism, I’m proud that the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership is planting this seed of entrepreneurial opportunity so that a new generation of women business owners can build back better.”

The Greenwood Chamber of Commerce is the oldest economic chamber serving the African American community in the United States. Casillas Guzman said an SBA team will be ready to help women entrepreneurs build equity and prosperity for themselves, their families and the Tulsa community.
In 1921, a thriving Black community in Tulsa’s Greenwood district, referred to as “Black Wall Street,” was decimated in a violent, racist attack. Approximately 300 Black Americans were killed and thousands of homes and businesses destroyed.

In June, President Joe Biden visited Tulsa and announced new steps to help narrow the racial wealth gap, including a commitment to use the federal government’s purchasing power to grow federal contracting with small disadvantaged businesses by 50%. That would translate to an additional $100 billion over five years.

“The opening of a Women’s Business Center in Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood will be historic for Oklahoma and for our nation, and we look forward to supporting the local small business ecosystem,” said Natalie Madeira Cofield, assistant administrator of the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership. “The new WBC also builds on the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to increase equity for all Americans through access to the SBA’s vast network of resources and opportunities.”

The Tulsa WBC is to be the nation’s 138th. Madeira Cofield said it will offer one-on-one counseling, training, networking, workshops, technical assistance and mentoring to women entrepreneurs on numerous business development topics, including business startup strategies, financial management, marketing and procurement.