§ 131.320 Area of service.

Cooperative agreement.(a) The recipient organization will identify in its application the geographic area for which it plans to provide assistance and should strive to not duplicate services to the same client population as an existing WBC. Once approved, the AA/OWBO will codify, in writing, the geographic area of service of each recipient organization. More than one recipient organization may be located in a State, Territory, or other geographic area. Once the SBA has entered into a cooperative agreement with a recipient organization, the area of service cannot be changed without prior approval by the AA/OWBO. A subsequent decision by the recipient organization to change the area of service in the cooperative agreement without prior approval by OWBO may constitute grounds for suspension, non-renewal, and/or termination as set forth in § 131.830.

Location of WBC projects.(b) An applicant organization responding to a program announcement and within proximity of an existing WBC project shall provide in its written narrative a justification for placing another WBC in the proximity of an existing WBC, including the number of socially and economically disadvantaged persons within the proposed service area, relevant census data, and information on population density. The information provided must clearly justify the necessity for an additional WBC project within the same area of service as the existing WBC project. The SBA will take the narrative and any supporting documentation into consideration when reviewing, ranking, and scoring the applicant organization's proposal.

Resources.(c) An applicant organization's plan for the commitment and allocation of resources, including the site from which the WBC plans to provide services, will be reviewed as part of the application review process for each budget period to ensure adequate coverage in the area of service.