Rural Business Development Grants — USDA Rural Development funding opportunity
USDA Rural Development · Federal agency

Rural Business Development Grants

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Rural Business Development Grants Application Window: Closed Program Application Period: Rural Business Development Grants...

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Deadline Rolling Location Alabama Type grant Level Federal Open
✦ AI Summary
  • Who can apply: Federal-level applicants (see eligibility for details).
  • Deadline: Rolling — applications accepted any time.
  • Issued by: USDA Rural Development.
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How was this generated?

The “key facts” mode pulls structured fields directly from the official source posting (amount, deadline, eligibility tags). The AI mode adds a short plain-English narrative on top, generated from the same source. Always verify with the agency before applying.

AI-generated. Always verify with the official source.

Who can apply — at a glance

  • Eligible applicants: see the Eligibility tab for the criteria from the official announcement.
  • Where: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia.
  • Award: amount not specified by the source.
  • Matching funds: not required.
  • Deadline type: Rolling.

Compiled from the official listing's structured fields — always verify with the funder before applying.

About the funder

USDA Rural Development is a federal-level funder.

See all 32 open programs from this agency →

Deadline
Rolling

About this opportunity

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Rural Business Development Grants Application Window: Closed Program Application Period: Rural Business Development Grants has two different closing dates: 1) June 15, 2026, only applies to Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD) applications and 2) June 30, 2026, applies to the remainder of the applicants. Applications are accepted from a public body/government entity, and Indian Tribe, or a Nonprofit entity primarily serving rural areas. Good to Know: To begin, contact a program official in your state (see contact tab below) to review the requirements for completing an application. The preparation process can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the complexity of the application and the completeness of the materials provided. For state specific information: -- Select State -- Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Rhode Island Delaware and Maryland Florida and Virgin Islands Georgia Hawaii and Western Pacific Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont and New Hampshire Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Fact Sheet Federal Register Notice Overview To Apply Other Requirements Contact Events Overview Notice: This program is only open to a Public Body/Government Entity, Federally Recognized Indian Tribe or a Nonprofit entity serving rural areas.  For profit entities, individuals and individual businesses are not eligible to receive grants under this program. What does this program do? The purpose of the program is to promote economic development and job creation projects through the awarding of grant funds to eligible entities. Applications will compete in two separate categories, business opportunity grants and business enterprise grants, for use in funding various business and community projects that serve rural areas. Who may apply for this program? Grants may be made to a Public Body/Government Entity, an Indian Tribe, or a Nonprofit entity primarily serving rural areas. What is an eligible area? Rural Business Development Grant money must be used for projects that benefit rural areas or towns outside the urbanized periphery of any city with a population of 50,000 or more. Check eligible areas . What kind of funding is available? There is no maximum grant amount; however, smaller requests are given higher priority. There is no cost sharing requirement. There are two types of RBDG projects, Opportunity grants and Enterprise grants. Opportunity type grants are limited to up to 10 percent of the total Rural Business Development Grant annual funding. Enterprise type grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application. How may Enterprise type funds be used? Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling and training, market research, feasibility studies, professional or/technical reports, or producer service improvements. Acquisition or development of rights of way; of buildings; for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities. Pollution control and abatement. The capitalization of revolving loan funds, including funds that will make loans for start-ups and working capital. Rural distance learning for job training and advancement for adult students. Rural transportation improvement. Community economic development. Technology-based economic development. Feasibility studies and business plans. Leadership and entrepreneur training. Rural business incubators.

Funding agency

USDA Rural Development
Federal agency

Tags

Agriculture & Farming Nonprofit & Community Small Business Technology & Software Education & Research Construction & Housing Tribal & Native Rural Development Climate & Environment Transportation & Logistics Finance & Capital Access rural rural-development business
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Who can apply

Eligibility details aren't on file yet — check the agency source link in the Documents tab for the latest rules.

Geographic eligibility

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • District of Columbia

How to apply

We don't have application instructions on file yet — head straight to the official source.

Apply on agency site
Tip from our team:

Read the agency's eligibility checklist before you start — it's almost always shorter than the full NOFO and will tell you in 90 seconds whether to keep going.

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Source documents

View on agency site
Canonical NOFO, application packet, and forms
No supplemental documents yet.

Direct downloads (NOFO PDFs, application forms, FAQs) will appear here once our team attaches them. For now, the agency site has the canonical packet.

Citation details

Source systemusda-rd
Source IDrural-business-development-grants

Frequently asked questions

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