Building Entrepreneurial Economies  is the next evolution of Virginia’s commitment to micro-entrepreneurship. Formerly known as Virginia Enterprise Initiative (VEI), BEE is taking a more local approach to developing stronger businesses that help build stronger communities.
BEE provides grants and technical assistance to regional and local micro-enterprise development organizations (MDOs) that specialize in assisting non-traditional entrepreneurs. This assistance includes pre-concept counseling, business plan development, credit repair and counseling, credit access and continuing technical assistance. To deliver these services, the MDOs also partner with banks, area businesses, educational institutions, each other and/or other private and public entities within the community. These organizations provide a service that often is not otherwise available and are designed to support the entrepreneur, even after accessing capital. VEI seeks to engage MDOs that provide innovative processes to attract and assist micro-entrepreneurs.