ABOUT ROBICONNECT

The Nation’s Premiere Entrepreneurship Hub for underserved entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and small business owners. 

The Resident Owned Business Incubator (ROBI), exists to strengthen communities and help create local jobs by investing in underserved and under-resourced small business owners and entrepreneurs through capital, capacity-building education and networks of support. The goals of the ROBI program are to develop and adequately match qualified businesses with the contractors and or subcontractors that must meet federal Section 3 and First Source numerical quotas.  

ROBI Program provides DC’s first-generation, under-resourced entrepreneurs, a full year of support which includes 15-weeks of intense classroom training, business planning and coaching, as well as marketing tools, networking opportunities, seed investment, and affordable shared office space at BAU Works. BAU Works is located on the BAU Washington DC campus (1510 H Street, NW) right next door to the White House.

The ROBICONNECT platforms unifies these efforts and allows ROBI to showcase their new graduates and the businesses they have birthed.  Under-resourced entrepreneurs interested in the ROBI entrepreneurial training program should visit www.canilive.org/robi for details.  

WHAT IS SECTION 3?

It is a means by which HUD fosters local economic development, neighborhood economic improvement, and individual self-sufficiency. Section 3 is the legal basis for providing jobs for residents and awarding contracts to businesses in areas receiving certain types of HUD financial assistance.  Under Section 3 of the HUD Act of 1968, wherever HUD financial assistance is expended for housing or community development, to the greatest extent feasible, economic opportunities will be given to Section 3 residents and businesses in that area.

Congress established the Section 3 policy to guarantee that the employment and other economic opportunities created by Federal financial assistance for housing and community development programs should, if possible, be directed toward low- and very-low income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government assistance for housing.  

Unfortunately, more than $18.9 billion dollars (40%  of HUD’s annual budget) which supports economic opportunities for low-income residents goes unaccounted for yearly.  For this purpose, this platform was created.  To establish a network of support that will increase contracting, capital and capacity for Section 3 and Resident Owned  Businesses.