The Initiative Foundation is offering a special one-time round of funding to invest in Central Minnesota’s smallest businesses as they work to recover from the pandemic.

The Initiative Foundation anticipates awarding up to 70 small business grants and expects this to be a highly competitive grant cycle. One-time grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to businesses that suffered pandemic-related disruptions and losses. This $500,000 program is designed to support fair economic recovery in Central Minnesota, and the grants will focus on small businesses that face barriers to accessing capital and other resources and which suffered setbacks during the pandemic.

This program is designed to support micro-enterprise businesses with five or fewer full-time employees and less than $750,000 in annual gross revenue. The effort will prioritize businesses that are owned by women, veterans, community members of color, and businesses that are located in small towns or rural areas, along with any small business that opened in the early stages of the pandemic. Any small business that were not eligible for any government COVID-19 relief programs are also eligible for a grant.

Funds can be used for a range of past, current, or future expenses. This could include operational expenses such as payroll, mortgage, rent or utilities, equipment and supplies, inventory, and other expenses. Additional eligible expenses could include cleaning, equipment, supplies, or infrastructure, or it could offset pandemic-related costs such as digital technologies, website and online infrastructure, marketing to new customers, health and safety upgrades, and others.

Interested small business owners should visit the Initiative Foundation’s website for details, including the application link and translated content and videos in Somali and Spanish.

By — Ryan Bowler