The Full Picture on
SBOSS Montgomery
We believe you deserve honest, detailed information about what this program is, what we have built, what the data shows, and where we are going. This page exists to provide exactly that — without spin, without deflection, and without fine print.
2024
Program Launch
629
Total Client Served
838.7
Counseling Hours
132
Programs & Events Hosted
As of April 17, 2026
Background & Purpose
Why SBOSS Exists
SBOSS was created to answer a real, documented need: thousands of small businesses in Montgomery were struggling — and many had no single place to turn for professional help.
When the federal government made American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding available to local governments in 2021, the City of Montgomery and Montgomery County earmarked approximately $5 million to support small businesses that had been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That decision reflected a genuine recognition that small businesses — particularly minority-owned businesses in industries like food service, retail, personal care, and hospitality — bore a disproportionate share of the pandemic’s economic damage.
Nationally, data showed that minority-owned businesses were more likely to have entered the pandemic in financially precarious positions, more concentrated in the hardest-hit industries, and less likely to have accessed federal relief programs like PPP. The City and County saw an opportunity to build something lasting: not just a one-time payment program, but a permanent hub for small business support.
The City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in August 2023 seeking an organization with the experience and infrastructure to design, build, and run this hub. Gaitway Solutions, LLC — in partnership with the Catalyst Center for Business and Entrepreneurship’s REACH Women’s Business Center — was selected to administer the program. A contract was executed in May 2024. SBOSS opened its doors at 39 Dexter Avenue, Suite 201 in downtown Montgomery in December 2024.
Program Architecture
How the Program Was Structured
SBOSS is a technical assistance provider. Our responsibility under the contract was to deliver services — not to distribute funds, issue loans, or make funding decisions.
This distinction matters, and we want to be direct about it. Some public commentary has suggested that SBOSS was responsible for distributing the $5 million in ARPA funds earmarked for small businesses. That is not accurate. The capital access component of this initiative was operated by HOPE Enterprise Corporation under a separate contractual arrangement. SBOSS was contracted to provide the service delivery layer: counseling, coaching, training, outreach, and technical assistance.
Component 1 — SBOSS: Service Delivery
_________________________________________________________________
- One-on-one business counseling and coaching
- Workshops, training, and education programs
- Access-to-capital readiness and navigation
- Marketing, branding, and digital support
- Networking events and community programming
- Outreach to underserved neighborhoods
- Technical assistance for licensing and compliance
Administered by: Gaitway Solutions / REACH WBC
Component 2 — Capital Access: HOPE Partnership
__________________________________________________________________
- Small business lending program
- Up to 50 loans to Montgomery businesses
- Forgivable loan structure (up to 50% forgiveness)
- Applicant intake and underwriting by HOPE
- Eligibility screening through ARPA guidelines
- Target focus: businesses impacted by COVID-19
- Separate from SBOSS operations and decisions
Administered by: Hope Credit Union
The program timeline began earlier than our involvement. ARPA funds were distributed to the City and County by the federal government starting in 2021. The City issued its RFP in 2023. A contract for SBOSS program administration was executed in May 2024. This gap — between federal fund receipt and program launch — is part of the broader program history that predates our involvement.
Scope of Work
What SBOSS Was Responsible For
SBOSS is a technical assistance provider responsible for education, training, and coaching for aspiring small business owners, with a primary focus on those impacted by COVID-19. Our responsibility under the contract was to deliver services — not to distribute funds, issue loans, or make funding decisions.
This distinction matters, and we want to be direct about it. Some public commentary has suggested that SBOSS was responsible for distributing the $5 million in ARPA funds earmarked for small businesses. That is not accurate. The capital access component of this initiative was operated by HOPE Enterprise Corporation under a separate contractual arrangement. SBOSS was contracted to provide the service delivery layer: counseling, coaching, training, outreach, and technical assistance.
SBOSS Was Responsible For
- One-on-one business counseling and coaching sessions
- Workshop development and delivery
- Community outreach and event programming
- Connecting clients to capital access resources
- CRM tracking and outcome reporting to City/County
- Marketing and awareness of SBOSS programs
- Coordinating with resource partners including REACH WBC
- Supporting SEED Grant applicants through Access Montgomery
SBOSS Was Not Responsible For:
- Loan application review or lending decisions
- Distribution of ARPA capital funds to businesses
- HOPE Credit Union underwriting operations
- ARPA fund allocation decisions (made before our contract)
- The gap between federal fund receipt (2021) and program launch (2024)
- Federal program eligibility rules and Treasury requirements
Our contract with the City and County defined specific deliverables: staffing an office, delivering workshops and counseling sessions, tracking client outcomes, conducting community outreach, and reporting performance data. We have met or exceeded those deliverables. Our outcomes are documented, reported to the City and County quarterly, and available for review.
What SBOSS Has Accomplished Since Launch
In our first year of operation, SBOSS built a program from the ground up — office, staff, systems, programming, and community presence — and delivered substantive, documented service to hundreds of Montgomery small business owners.
629
839
132
3,720
8,074
101
8
73
(YTD)
3
(YTD)
These numbers represent real interactions with real business owners — not administrative overhead. Our counseling sessions addressed business plans, financial projections, licensing, marketing strategy, digital presence, government contracting readiness, and more. Our events ranged from half-day workshops to community mixers to the “Business, Beards & Bourbon” and “SHE-EO” series, which were designed to build community among business owners who often work in isolation.
We also built the infrastructure this program needs to last: a professionally staffed office, a CRM-based client tracking system, a website and app, email marketing reaching 6,200+ recipients, and active social media channels with engaged audiences. These are not incidental costs — they are the foundation on which durable small business support is built.
WORKSHOPS · 84 Sessions · Multiple Topics Covered
Business Planning & Strategy
31
Financial & Accounting
33
Marketing & Branding
21
Digital Tools & Technology
7
Licensing, Certification & Operations
10
Industry-Specific
15
NETWORKING EVENTS · 27 Events · 1,300+ Recorded Attendees
Monthly Small Business Mixers
20
Strong Coffee, Strong Women Series
5
Signature Programs
6
Outreach & Community Connection
8
COHORT & ACCELERATOR PROGRAMS
2
What Applicant and Client Data Revealed
The businesses that came to SBOSS told us — through their intake forms, their counseling sessions, and their outcomes — exactly what Montgomery’s small business community is up against. The data is clear, and it helps explain why the path to capital access is not simple.
Through our Startup Space (SBOSS CRM Platform) and client intake process, we tracked the primary challenges that brought businesses through our doors. The most common areas of need, based on client data across the program period, are shown below. These categories are not unique to Montgomery — they mirror national trends for small businesses recovering from the pandemic — but they have important implications for the capital access model.
Primary Barriers Reported by SBOSS Clients
This data also explains one of the most commonly misunderstood dynamics of the program: the fact that fewer businesses accessed capital than originally anticipated is not evidence that the program failed. It is evidence that the population of businesses needing help had deeper challenges than a loan program alone could address. We have been working to close those gaps, and we will continue doing so.
Why the Access-to-Capital Model Changed
We want to be transparent about what happened with the HOPE lending partnership, what we learned from it, and what the City and County are doing now to get capital to the businesses that need it.
The capital access component of this initiative was structured as a partnership with HOPE Enterprise Corporation, a community development financial institution. The model involved HOPE providing loans to small businesses — with forgivable portions built in for qualifying borrowers — using ARPA funds provided by the City and County through an interlocal agreement.
The challenges with this model were real. ARPA federal compliance requirements imposed strict eligibility criteria. The loan structure — requiring businesses to take on debt in order to receive relief funding — created a barrier for many businesses that had already been financially stressed by the pandemic. Underwriting processes, federal documentation requirements, and eligibility screening resulted in very few loans being successfully deployed to local businesses.
Here is an accurate account of what SBOSS did and did not do within the HOPE lending process. SBOSS built and managed the applicant-facing layer of the capital access program: we developed the application, created an eligibility screening tool based on HOPE’s requirements and federal ARPA guidelines, accepted applications from businesses, reviewed each submission for completeness, and assembled complete packages for direct submission to HOPE Credit Union. That intake and preparation work was ours.
What was not ours: underwriting, credit decisions, and fund deployment. Once a complete, reviewed application package was submitted to HOPE, all further decisions — approvals, denials, loan terms, and disbursement — belonged entirely to HOPE under its separate contractual agreement with the City and County. SBOSS had no authority over, or visibility into, HOPE’s internal underwriting process or its final lending decisions.
The decision to restructure the capital access approach was made by the City and County in response to the challenges with the HOPE model. That restructuring is ongoing. SBOSS is working with the City and County to identify alternative capital pathways that can reach more businesses before the federal ARPA deadline.
We also want to acknowledge the timeline critique directly. There is a meaningful gap between when ARPA funds were received (2021) and when SBOSS launched (2024). That gap is part of the broader program history managed at the City and County level before our contract existed. We cannot speak to decisions made in that period, but we can confirm that from the moment our contract was executed, we moved quickly to stand up operations, hire staff, and begin delivering services.
What's Next for SBOSS
We are not starting over. We are building on a foundation of real service delivery, documented outcomes, and hard-won community trust — and we are expanding into areas where Year 1 showed us there is more work to do.
Our Year 2 strategic path is built around three priorities: reaching more businesses in underserved parts of the city and county, deepening the quality of our counseling and coaching through tiered service tracks, and aggressively supporting capital readiness so that more businesses can access whatever capital pathways are available.
Client Service Expansion
_______________________________________________
- Service tracks: "Builder," "Scaler," and "Pivot" to tailor support by stage
- Refined intake process to better match clients to services
- Client outcomes survey and feedback loop post-coaching
- Micro-cohorts organized by business stage and industry
- Modular multi-session workshop series for deeper learning
Community Reach
______________________________________________
- Targeted outreach across all 9 City Council districts
- Expanded programming in outlying county communities
- Partnerships with churches, libraries, and community organizations
- Language-accessible programming and materials
- Continued town halls in underserved neighborhoods
FAQ
Questions We Hear Most Often
We have answered the questions that come up most frequently — including the hard ones. If your question is not here, please send your questions below:
Does SBOSS give out grants or loans to small businesses?
No — SBOSS does not issue grants or make lending decisions. SBOSS is a technical assistance provider. We provide free counseling, coaching, training, and programming to small business owners.
For the HOPE lending component of this initiative, SBOSS did play an active intake role: we built the application, developed the eligibility screening tool, accepted submissions from businesses, reviewed applications for completeness, and delivered complete, ready packages directly to HOPE Credit Union. But the credit decisions — approvals, denials, loan terms, and fund disbursement — were made entirely by HOPE under its separate agreement with the City and County. SBOSS had no authority or influence over those decisions.
Why has so little capital been distributed to small businesses through this program?
This is a legitimate and important question. The capital access component — managed by HOPE, not SBOSS — faced several significant challenges: strict federal ARPA eligibility and bank requirements, a loan structure that required businesses to take on debt to access relief funding, and extensive underwriting documentation requirements that many pandemic-stressed businesses could not easily meet.
Additionally, many businesses that came to SBOSS for help had deeper readiness challenges — incomplete financial records, early-stage business plans, unresolved licensing issues — that prevented them from qualifying for lending in the short term. Our counseling work directly addresses those gaps, but closing them takes time.
How has Gaitway Solutions been paid, and is that appropriate?
Why did it take until 2024 for the program to launch if ARPA funds were received in 2021?
The gap between the City and County receiving ARPA funds (2021) and SBOSS launching under our contract (2024) reflects decisions made at the City and County level before Gaitway Solutions was involved. We are not in a position to speak to what occurred during that period, as our organization did not have a contract or role in the program until 2024.
What we can confirm is that from the execution of our contract in May 2024, we moved quickly: we opened an office, hired staff, deployed our tracking systems, and began delivering services within weeks. We do not believe the answer to a delayed start is further delay — it is accelerated delivery, which is what we have done.
Can SBOSS still help my business if I need capital?
Yes — and this is exactly why our counseling work matters. If your business needs capital, the best thing you can do right now is work with us to get ready. That means having a solid business plan, clean and current financial records, a clear picture of your revenue and expenses, and a clear story about why your business needs funding and how you will use it.
We can help you with every one of those things — for free. Call us at (334) 209-5010, email us at or walk in at 39 Dexter Avenue, Suite 201, Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 4 PM.
Will the remaining ARPA funds be returned to the federal government?
The federal ARPA deadline for obligating funds is December 31, 2024, and for expenditure is December 31, 2026. The City and County are working to obligate and deploy remaining funds within those deadlines. SBOSS is supporting that effort by accelerating outreach, increasing capital readiness counseling, and helping identify businesses that are ready to access available funding.
The urgency is real. We are treating it as such. For questions about the specific fund status, please contact the City of Montgomery’s Department of Economic Development directly.
Who is eligible for SBOSS services?
SBOSS serves small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in Montgomery City and County. There is no fee for our services. Priority is given to businesses that experienced negative economic impacts related to COVID-19, but we serve businesses at all stages — pre-launch through established and growing.
We serve businesses across industries including food and beverage, retail, personal services, professional services, creative industries, technology, and more. If you own or want to start a business in Montgomery, we want to hear from you.
How is SBOSS held accountable for its performance?
SBOSS reports performance data to the City of Montgomery and Montgomery County on a regular basis. Our reporting includes the number of clients served, counseling hours delivered, events hosted, workshop attendance, and business outcomes. This data is tracked through our Neoserra CRM system and submitted with supporting documentation.
Our program is subject to federal ARPA compliance requirements administered by the U.S. Treasury. The City and County conduct compliance monitoring of our expenditures and outcomes. We are also committed to public transparency, which is why this page exists.
We invite any stakeholder with specific questions about our performance or finances to contact us directly or reach out to the City’s Department of Economic Development.