Today's Agent Skill: Small Business Grant Opportunity Finder and Summarizer
What It Does
Hundreds of federal, state, and private grant programs exist for small businesses — but most owners don't know where to look, don't have time to research eligibility across multiple programs, and miss deadlines because they found out too late. This skill compiles a prioritized list of relevant grant and funding opportunities specific to your business type, location, and ownership category so you can focus your application energy where it's most likely to pay off.
How It Works
The agent takes a description of your business, location, ownership demographics, and funding need, then systematically identifies applicable federal programs (SBA, USDA, EDA), state-level programs administered through your state economic development agency or SBDC, and private and corporate grant programs. It builds a comparison table with award amounts, deadlines, effort levels, and a recommendation for which 2–3 to pursue first.
How to Deploy It
Run this skill in Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor, or Windsurf with your business details as input. Note that grant availability and deadlines change frequently — verify the current status of each program directly with the granting organization before investing time in an application. Your local SBDC (Small Business Development Center, free) can review your grant applications before submission and significantly improve your odds of success.
SKILL.md — Ready to Deploy
## Description
Compiles a prioritized list of grant programs, low-interest loan programs, and funding opportunities relevant to a specific small business based on type, location, ownership demographics, and funding need — organized by award amount, deadline, eligibility, and application effort.
## Trigger
Invoke when the user says "find grants for my small business," "are there any funding programs for my business," "I need capital and can't get a traditional loan," "what SBA programs apply to me," or specifies a demographic category (woman-owned, veteran-owned, minority-owned, rural, etc.) along with a funding need.
## Input
- Business type and industry, what it sells, how long it has been operating
- Business location: state and city (many programs are state or locally administered)
- Ownership demographics: woman-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ+-owned, rural, or Native American-owned — these unlock additional eligibility pools
- Funding need: approximate amount needed and specific purpose (equipment, marketing, hiring, working capital, real estate, R&D)
- Whether the business has an existing banking relationship or has worked with a CDFI (Community Development FinaCopy the full SKILL.md and drop it into your agent's skills directory to activate this skill.