Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA) just released the second RFP under the Project Slingshot regional initiative to spur entrepreneurial activity in the 9 county region. Following is a description of Slingshot and a link to the SETA RFP page.
The California Capital Region entrepreneurial and small business community will benefit from $750,000 in new grant funding between now and March 2018, thanks to the newly-launched Project SlingShot. The funds will be made available through a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process, with the first RFP to be made public this week. The funds will enable the nine-county region’s innovation ecosystem to expand and strengthen the support it provides to entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups.
SlingShot is a statewide program being implemented in the Capital Region by a partnership of four local workforce development boards: the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), Golden Sierra, the North Central Counties Consortium, and the Yolo County WDB, with SETA acting as the lead partner.
“By bringing these funds to our local entrepreneurship ecosystem, SlingShot will support more business growth and job creation throughout the region,” explained Kathy Kossick, SETA’s Executive Director. “Growing companies that add jobs means expanded employment opportunities for our local workforce, which is central to the workforce boards’ missions.”
The competitive RFP process, led by SETA, will address SlingShot’s three areas of focus: first, mentoring networks that connect entrepreneurs to experienced executives; second, physical spaces for entrepreneurs, such as co-working facilities, maker spaces, incubators and accelerators; and finally, the creation of a Resource Navigator, a searchable, interactive online tool that will house a comprehensive inventory of all the support services available to entrepreneurs across the region. The Resource Navigator is modelled after the highly successful Resource Navigator model developed by KC Sourcelink. ( http://www.kcsourcelink.com/resource-navigator). Slingshot will work across a nine-county region and prioritize efforts that will connect rural communities to urban resources.
Note: The first RFP was released by SETA on November 4th at 1:00 p.m. Awards will range from $20,000 to $150,000. Applicants’ responses are due mid-December 2016, and the evaluation and review process will be completed in February. Awards will be confirmed by March 2017, with all funded work required to be complete by March 2018. The second RFP for the Resource Navigator, was released on December 2, 2016, with proposals due January 10, 2017. A mandatory prequalification submittal is due December 20, 2016. Application evaluations are to be completed and award notices delivered on February 10, 2017.
