Montgomery County committee backs new competitive grants and reallocation for small-business support

Montgomery County staff described a shift this week in how the county will use its Small Business Support Services (SBSS) nondepartmental account (NDA), reallocating about $1.7 million for a mix of continuing contracts and new competitive solicitations to fund federal‑contractor supports, cohort training, and small networking grants.

County executive staff told the Economic Development Committee that the county originally budgeted a 3% inflationary adjustment for SBSS totaling $1,713,075 but shifted course as unspent contract balances were identified. "These are contracts, not grants," a county executive staff member said, explaining the county will keep most funding as noncompetitive awards to current contractors while opening a competitive process for new services.

Committee members said the changes reflect a needed adjustment after the FY25 budget process and pressed staff for greater clarity on the timeline, outreach and performance metrics. Councilmember Balcom said cohort training and one‑on‑one counseling are both essential and urged geographic and calendar‑year distribution of awards so smaller groups…