Lucrative Grants of $150,000 and More for Small Businesses

The economic stimulus grants provide small businesses can be the difference between staying open and closing entirely. Even before the pandemic, small business grants offered great opportunities to keep operating as well as support growth with strategic funding. This week there are grants addressing a range of challenges with lucrative funding offering $150,000 and much more across the country.

The federal American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA continues to provide recovery funds with economic stimulus to communities across the country. From Clackamas County, OR to California’s San Luis Obispo County, Lubbock County, TX, Falls Church, VA and other states, with grants of up to $25,000. These communities are creating their own small business grant programs to address the challenges of the past couple of years.

The state of Illinois has several lucrative grants of up to $250,000 as part of the Chicago Small Business Improvement Fund. Local businesses can apply for grants that cover between 30 to 90 percent of their remodeling or building costs. Additionally, there are grants available from the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, Feed the Seed Business Startup Grants, grants from the city of Urbana for select new and growing businesses, and others.

Colorado also has just as lucrative grants with up to $500,000 addressing everything from technology projects to artists, advanced industries, early-stage capital, and more. The state is also offering additional grants for small businesses looking to improve the state’s manufacturing, export, cannabis, and even more art projects.

Small Business News Roundup – March 25, 2022

Take a look at what else is taking place with small businesses in the rest of this week’s roundup:

GIF Inventor Steve Wilhite Dies After Battle with COVID-19

Steve Wilhite the creator of the popular Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) file format passed away on March 14 due to complications from COVID-19. Wilhite, 74, is best known for creating the GIF file format while working at CompuServe in 1987 that is now used for reactions, messages, and memes.

Funding Circle and Pitney Bowes Announce Small Business Loan Partnership

Funding Circle the online small business lending platform has partnered with Pitney Bowes a global shipping and mailing service provider to offer small businesses more affordable loans. According to the partnership, Funding Circle’s machine learning and technology platform will combine with Pitney Bowes logistics and financial services.

Zuckerberg Says Instagram to Become an NFT Marketplace

On a panel, at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival last week Mark Zuckerberg said, “We are working on bringing NFTs to Instagram in the near term.” With the change of Facebook to Meta, this announcement is not surprising as NFTs will be an integral part of the metaverse.

10 Profitable Online Businesses for Sale in March

Electric vehicles don’t only cover cars, today if it has wheels it can run on batteries. One of the online businesses for sale in this list is a branded Electric Scooter Co. that is innovative and with huge potential for growth. The online businesses for sale in March come from BizBuySell, the internet’s largest and most heavily trafficked business-for-sale marketplace.

How to Retain Your Employees in the New World of Work

How do you compete in a post COVID world where retaining employees are everything, but you still struggle to keep your teams together? How to you run your small business so your team wants to stay at your company?

Ukraine Using NFT to Fund War Effort Against Russia

We’re seeing a lot more brands use NFT but now there’s news that an entire nation is using them to help generate war revenue. Ukraine is trying desperately to fund its war effort to repel Russian forces from its borders. It’s turned to NFTs to bankroll the cause.

The Benefits of Hiring Slow and Firing Fast for Businesses

An infographic compiled by MBA Stack, providers of helpful and accurate information to current and prospective MBA students, confirms the value of hiring slow and firing fast. The research shows that almost 3 in 4 employers say they have hired the wrong person for a position.

SBA Launches Building a Better America, a Small Business Resource Community

The US Small Business Association (SBA) has announced the launch of a new engagement series known as ‘Building a Better America: A Small Business Resource Community.’ Working in collaboration with the Public Private Strategies Institute, the new virtual series is aimed at connecting small businesses with SBA resources and networks as the US economy returns to normalcy.

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