Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program Funding Opportunity

Regs.gov: Rural Business-Cooperative Service

Published February 25th, 2026

Detected March 14th, 2026

Summary

The USDA's Rural Business-Cooperative Service is issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program for FY2026. Future announcements will be made solely on the Agency website and grants.gov, without a Federal Register notice.

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What changed

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS) of the USDA has issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) for Fiscal Year 2026. This notice announces the acceptance of grant, loan, and combined applications. A significant procedural change for future years is that this funding opportunity will no longer be published in the Federal Register, but will instead be exclusively announced on the Agency website and grants.gov.

Regulated entities interested in applying for RMAP funding should note the change in announcement location for future years and consult the full funding notice available on grants.gov or the USDA Rural Development website for program guidance and application forms. The stated date of February 25, 2026, appears to be the publication or effective date for this notice, not a compliance deadline for applicants.

What to do next

Note the change in future funding announcement locations (Agency website and grants.gov only).
Consult the full funding notice on grants.gov for application details and program guidance.

Source document (simplified)

Content

ACTION:

Notice of funding opportunity.

SUMMARY:

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS or the Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to announce acceptance of grant, loan, and combined
grant and loan applications under the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP). In future years this funding opportunity
will only be announced on the Agency website and grants.gov, without a
Federal Register
notice. Therefore, in future years, neither the funding opportunity nor reference to the funding opportunity in grants.gov will appear in the
Federal Register
. Please make a note of this change in location of the funding announcement in your records.

DATES:

February 25, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Full funding notice is available on grants.gov. Program guidance and application forms may be obtained at https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/business-programs/rural-microentrepreneur-assistance-program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shamika Johnson, Program Management Division, Business Programs, RBCS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Mail Stop 3226,
Room 5160-S, Washington, DC 20250-3226, or call (202) 720-1400. For further information on this notice, please contact the
RD State Office in the State where the project is located. A list of RD State Office contacts is provided at the following
link: rd.usda.gov/about-rd/offices/state-offices.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The full text of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is available on the Agency website and on grants.gov using Funding Opportunity Number RD-RBCS-26-RMAP or Assistance Listing Number 10.870.

Jeremy Claeys, Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, USDA Rural Development. [FR Doc. 2026-03790 Filed 2-24-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-XY-P