Resources & Quick References

• Arlington Links
• Small Business Links
• Procurement Resources
• Arlington’s Public-Private Partnerships
• Educational/Workforce Development
• Lenders
• Local Venture Capital Agencies
• Quick Reference: Arlington County Phone Numbers
• Quick Reference: Permits & Licenses
• Quick Reference: Business Glossary

Arlington Links

• Arlington Chamber of Commerce: Membership-based organization for small businesses.
• Arlington Convention and Visitors Service: Your source for hotel, meeting, and tourism information for Arlington and the Washington, D.C. area.
• Arlington County Government
• Arlington Public Schools Partners in Education Program: Opportunities for community involvement by businesses and their employees.
• Leadership Arlington: Arlington's community leadership program.

Other Arlington phone numbers, including numbers for licensing and permits.

Small Business Links

• Arlington Small Business Development Center of George Mason University: Provides business information, technical assistance, management counseling and training to existing small businesses and new entrepreneurs.
• Incubator AMERICA: A business incubator program for for foreign-owned companies creating an initial presence in the North American market.
• Arlington Small Business Development Center (SBDC): Provides business information, technical assistance, management counseling and training to existing small businesses and new entrepreneurs.
• Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc. (ECDC): Provides micro loans to new and existing businesses ($5,000 - $35,000). ECDC also offers one-on-one business assistance.
• U.S. Small Business Administration Washington Metropolitan Area District Office: Delivers SBA’s programs and services to the Northern Virginia region.
• Virginia Community Development Loan Fund: Provides loan capital for small businesses

Procurement Resources

• Business Matchmaking: A cooperative agreement between the Small Business Administration and the Hewlitt Packard Small Business Foundation

Public-Private Partnerships

Arlington's public-private partnerships provide a local community-based business promotion organization in several of Arlington's business districts.

• Ballston/Virginia Square Partnership
• Clarendon Alliance
• Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO)
• Rosslyn Renaissance

Educational/Workforce Development

• Arlington Adult Education: Offers courses and seminars throughout the year including programs on entrepreneurship and small business management
• Arlington County Public Library Collections and Services for Businesses: Information on resources available to you through the public libraries system include business databases and professional research assistance.
• Arlington County Public Library Small Business Path Finder: Provides an overview on the basics of starting a small business in Arlington County
• Arlington Employment Center: Provides a central place to list job vacancies, can find and screen qualified employees.
• Business Development Assistance Group (BDAG): Nonprofit organization that provides one-on-one technical assistance and offers training workshops in several languages
• Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC): Provides a unique range of services to students, schools and lenders participating in the Federal Family Education Loan Program
• Internal Revenue Service: Small Business One Stop Resource for forms and publications regarding small businesses
• SCORE: Provides entrepreneurs with free, confidential face-to-face and email business counseling
• Women’s Business Center of Northern Virginia: Free and low-cost training programs, free one-on-one technical counseling, marketing assistance, access to those who can make loans, and much more

Lenders

• Small Business Administration listing of Participating Lenders in the Washington, D.C. Area (PDF - Adobe Acrobat required; 101 KB)

Local Venture Capital Agencies

• Grubstakes: The Business Alliance of George Mason University
  

  Three times each year, the Business Alliance gives four or five young companies unprecedented access to interested investors and to service providers working with alternate sources of investment capital.

  Eligible companies seeking $250,000 to $2 million in investment capital apply for the opportunity to make a formal presentation to a panel of investors and to an audience of other investors, fellow entrepreneurs, potential strategic partners, and other interested parties. After each presentation, the panel and the audience provide feedback and ask questions.

• MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington – Baltimore
  

  The MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore is a non-profit, volunteer organization established to support and promote high-tech entrepreneurship in the greater Washington D.C. and Baltimore area. The Forum emphasizes high-tech start-ups and maturing businesses, and issues relevant to the local area. This Forum is one of 25 chapters throughout the world.

• MAVA
  

  MAVA's mission is to facilitate private equity investing in the mid-Atlantic region and represent the collective interests of venture capitalists with investment interests in the mid-Atlantic. With more than 500 venture capital professionals from 125 firms, members collectively manage more than $10 billion in capital.

• Small Business Investment Company
  

  Congress created the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program in 1958 to fill the gap between the availability of venture capital and the needs of small businesses in start-up and growth situations. SBICs, licensed and regulated by the SBA, are privately owned and managed investment firms that use their own capital, plus funds borrowed at favorable rates with an SBA guarantee, to make venture capital investments in small businesses.

  Virtually all SBICs are profit-motivated businesses. They provide equity capital, long-term loans, debt-equity investments and management assistance to qualifying small businesses. Their incentive is the chance to share in the success of the small business as it grows and prospers.