SBA’s Oversight of the Community Navigator Pilot Program Performance

This report presents the results of our audit of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) oversight of the Community Navigator Pilot Program (Navigator program). The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 established the Navigator program and authorized $100 million to provide technical assistance and pandemic recovery services to underserved small businesses and entrepreneurs. SBA awarded 51 grants, ranging from $1 million to $5 million, totaling $99.9 million. The Navigator program had a 2-year period of performance, from December 1, 2021, through November 30, 2023 though most were approved to continue providing services through May 31, 2024.

Opportunities existed for SBA to improve measuring and monitoring. Although program officials established performance measures and program goals, there was no established target for the number of underserved clients to reach through the program. In addition, the absence of pertinent information on the client intake form coupled with data quality issues limited the reliability of performance results.

We made five recommendations, should the Navigator program continue, for SBA to improve measuring program performance, improve the quality of performance data collection efforts, and track partner organizations participating in the program.