Deadline: 6-Sep-22
The Coalition to Back Black Businesses 2022 Grant Period is now open to provide immediate financial assistance and long-term support for America’s Black-Owned Small Businesses.
The Coalition to Back Black Businesses is a multi-year grantmaking and training initiative to help support Black-owned small businesses as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and chart a path forward. The initiative launched in Fall 2020 and provides grants to qualifying Black-owned small businesses through 2023.
Through the Coalition, American Express, Cummins, Optimum, Shopify, Stanley Black and Decker, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, National Business League, U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., Walker’s Legacy, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, will work together over the next four years to provide over $14 million in grants, training, and resources to empower Black-owned small businesses in distressed communities that have long been struggling with economic growth.
Funding Information
- Each fall, the foundation will distribute $5,000 grants. The grants are unrestricted but must be applied toward business expenses.
- The Coalition to Back Black Businesses is dedicated to supporting the long-term success of Black-owned small businesses and the communities they serve. That’s why a select group of grantees will be eligible for $25,000 enhancement grants to help take their business to the next level.
Benefits
The $5,000 grants are only the start of the Coalition to Back Black Businesses’ efforts to support Black-owned small businesses. The grant program will involve three additional steps to invest in the long-term success and resilience of the Black small business community.
- Mentorship. Each grantee will receive exclusive access to a mentorship program, conducted in partnership with Ureeka, to help grow their business with advice and guidance from industry- or subject-specific mentors.
- Enhancement Grants. Each summer following the distribution of the $5,000 grants, the foundation will offer competitive $25,000 enhancement grants to those most promising grantees. Four percent of the grantees in each annual cohort will receive these funds to help take their business to the next level.
- Online Resources. This website will serve as a central hub featuring resources for all Black-owned small businesses. By working with their extensive network of partners, the foundation will collect a strong library of programs and educational materials to help the Black small business community in their recovery and growth.
Eligibility Criteria
- To apply, you must be an owner of a Black-owned small business (51% or more ownership of the business). You must have between 3-20 employees (including yourself, all full or part-time employees, and independent (1099) contractors). The business must also not be part of a franchise brand with more than twenty-five (25) corporate-owned stores, or more than two hundred and fifty (250) stores total.
- The business must be located in an economically vulnerable community. This is defined as any zip code not in the top 20% of zip codes in the United States, as ranked by the Distressed Communities Index.
- There are a few industries and business types that are not eligible to receive grants:
- Any government agency, public administration, political organization, or non-profit of any type;
- Businesses engaged in any illegal activity;
- Gas stations, or businesses located on the same premises as a gas station;
- Shopping property management companies;
- Direct sellers;
- Any business that is primarily in the business of manufacturing, promoting or selling diet aids, cannabis, gambling, tobacco (including tobacco-related equipment, such as e-cigarettes), firearms or other weapons;
- Private clubs and businesses which limit the number of memberships for reasons other than capacity;
- Businesses principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling or indoctrinating religion or religious beliefs, whether in a religious or secular setting;
- Businesses which derive directly or indirectly more than de minimis gross revenue through the sale of products or services, or the presentation of any depictions or displays, of a sexual nature;
- Businesses owned by employees, officers and directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, American Express, other Coalition funders, National Partners (National Black Chamber of Commerce, National Business League, Walker’s Legacy, U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.), and any affiliated entities, and their respective immediate families (parents, spouse, children, siblings) or individuals residing in their household (whether or not related)
- Entities listed on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Sanctions List.
For more information, visit https://webackblackbusinesses.com/