Above: If you own a local business with five or less employees (including yourself) you’ll want to pay attention to the EDC’s news on a grant opportunity.
Earlier this summer, I shared news on a grant opportunity for “micro-enterprises” in Southborough. At that time, the application process wasn’t yet open. That changed this week. Now qualified business with five or fewer employees (including the owner) can apply for up to $10,000 in government grants.
The window is only open through September 25th, so act quickly!
The Town’s Economic Development Committee worked with other area towns to bring the opportunity to local businesses. You can read more on that background here.
Here is the EDC’s press release with more details:
Applications are now being accepted for the Microenterprise grant which is part of the $19.6 million award through the federally-funded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program through the CARES Act of 2020. The $4,950,000 grant from the Department of Housing & Community Development was awarded to assist small businesses in 23 cities and towns across the Metropolitan Boston Region, including Southborough.
The funding is being utilized to address emergency needs in light of the Coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, the grant award for these 23 communities will be utilized to award individual grants of up to $10,000 for microenterprise businesses. A microenterprise is defined as a commercial enterprise that has 5 or fewer employees, 1 or more of whom owns the enterprise and must be a for-profit entity. The town of Southborough will be receiving $204,000 to support small businesses in the community.
Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (“MGCC”) will be helping to administer and oversee the grant program. Applications are available here (https://massgcc.submittable.com/submit) and are due by September 25th.
The communities that are part of this coalition include: Ashland, Beverly, Burlington, Canton, Concord, Dedham, Essex, Lexington, Manchester by the Sea, Marlborough, Melrose, Milton, Natick, North Reading, Norwood, Randolph, Reading, Sharon, Southborough, Stoneham, Watertown, Winchester or Woburn. Businesses interested in applying must fill out the online application only. For questions, please contact Southborough EDC Coordinator M. Munsiff at MMunsiff@southboroughma.com.
Interested business owners will also want to check out this FAQ sheet with qualifying details, term definitions, etc.
