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by Jeffrey McKinney
April 6, 2024
American Express and Main Street America are offering funding that can be used for several purposes, including accessibility upgrades, community events, marketing, and operational strategy.
An immense $5.75 million in grants is on hand for small businesses to help promote economic vitality.
The funding is part of the Backing Small Businesses grant program presented by American Express and Main Street America. The program is aimed to support economically vulnerable and under-resourced small businesses with community outreach. That includes Black-owned businesses. The number of grants and total funding is being increased this year, according to this.
Marking its third year currently, the program will allow 500 small businesses to apply for grants of $10,000 each now through April 7, 2024, at 11:59 P.M. CT here. See more details on the program and eligibility at the link.
Further, when the 500 recipients submit their final reports in September 2024, they can apply for the $30,000 in enhancement grants. Their projects for the Enhancement Grants don’t have to be tied to their projects from the $10,000 initial grant. Only 25 businesses will be chosen to each get Enhancement Grants.
Only 25 recipients of the $10,000 grants will be eligible for enhancement grants.
Funds should be used for either or both to leverage current business operations and pay for community programming and events.
Business owners can use the grants in several ways. For instance, the grants can be used for accessibility upgrades, community events, inventory, marketing, and operational strategy. Check this out to see a list of eligible grant expenses. Insufficient or expired capital is one of the main operating obstacles for both budding and mature small business owners. Grants can benefit businesses in multiple ways with funding needs.
Based on a news release, American Express and Main Street America created the Backing Small Businesses grant program to assist small business owners in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and helping them grow. In the first year, some $1.65 million in grants went to 330 U.S. small business owners, and over $2.3 million in grants were presented to 350 businesses in the second year.
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