Business and Finance
Baltimore POC businesses can apply for $20,000 in BGE grants
Baltimore businesses owned by people of color and girls can now apply for $20,000 in grants. The money is coming as Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) invests $2 million in this system this 12 months. Small businesses situated in the utility’s service area can apply for the BGE Energizing Small Business Grant program through July 12.
This program has awarded greater than $13 million in grants to 651 small businesses since its inception in 2021. This is an element of an initiative to assist the foundations of the local economy succeed and grow.
Historically underrepresented minority businesses, which regularly struggle to access capital, can be prioritized for funding. BGE is partnering with fintech platform Hello Alice to manage the grants.
Grant applicants must meet various requirements to be eligible, including being a for-profit business that has been in operation for not less than a 12 months in the beginning of the appliance, being an existing BGE customer in good standing, having 25 or fewer employees and annual gross revenues in 2023 of lower than $7 million.
The latest financing comes from insufficient or expired capital, which is one among the fundamental operational challenges for each recent and mature small business owners. In this report showed that 76% of black entrepreneurs admitted that access to capital was a barrier.
In general, small business grants are sometimes a source of funding that doesn’t need to be repaid or accrue interest and costs like a loan. Businesses can use grants to cover specific needs, reminiscent of expansion, hiring employees, and other purposes. The downside is that a business may face a whole lot of competition in securing grants, as many interested applicants apply for them.
A subsidiary of Exelon Corp., BGE calls itself the biggest natural gas and electricity provider in Maryland, serving greater than 1.3 million electric customers and 700,000 natural gas customers.
Get more details and apply Here.