Comcast seeking applications for small business grant competition

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by Anna Munhin May 29, 2023 News
Comcast seeking applications for small business grant competition
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Megan Sayles is the business writer for the Afrika.

msayles is at afro.

100 Baltimore small businesses will receive grant packages that include $5,000 in funding, business consultation, educational resources, media schedule, creative production and a technology makeover as part of the Comcast RISE program, according to a recent announcement.

To be eligible for the program, businesses must have 100 or fewer employees, be based in Baltimore and have at least three years of operation on the books. The application for the grant package will be open until the 30th.

Kristie Fox serves as the vice president of communications for Comcast’s Beltway region. Comcast Rise will award 100 Baltimore businesses with comprehensive grant packages. (Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Comcast)

"As we leave the Pandemic behind us, and small businesses transition from recovery to growth and expansion, we're evolving the program," said Fox. Helping to strengthen and empower small businesses is the focus of the program.

In response to COVID-19, a new company was created.

Representation, investment, strength and empowerment are some of the things "RISE" stands for. It was designed to help businesses that were hit hard by the Pandemic.

In the first two years of the program, businesses received a variety of grants. More than 11,000 businesses received more than $110 million in resources.

The program was expanded in order for winning businesses to receive a comprehensive grant package.

Aside from capital, one-on-one consultation and educational resources, grant recipients will be awarded a 30-second TV commercial and a technology makeover, which provides a year of internet, phone service and cyber security support.

It is important to support small businesses in a comprehensive way. Fox said that the monetary grants were very effective because the company could put it toward whichever area of growth they needed.

Knowing how to develop a business plan, having consultation to grow your business, and having advertising and technology services are core to the operation of a business.

The applications will be evaluated by a third party selection committee before they are forwarded to the selection committee. The applicants commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion will be examined by the judges.

The winners will be announced on August 22nd.

Dasia and Melanie Kabia are the mother-daughter duo who run Ice Queens, a Baltimore snowball shop and bakery. The business is a previous winner of the 30-second TV commercial through Comcast RISE. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Ice Queens)

Dasia and Melanie Kabia received a grant from the company. Ice Queens is a bakery and a snowball shop.

Dasia is the owner while Melanie is the mother. Business expenses began to surpass net revenue in the fall of the same year as sales boomed during the warmer months of the Pandemic.

The Kabias were going to run out of money in their second year so they started looking for grants. Melanie was going through her mail when she found a flyer about the company.

Ice Queen was given a TV spot.

It was great to see our business, faces and product on TV after we gave them the content for the video.

Ice Queens have continued to serve at company events despite the fact that RISE had ended.

Mujahid Muhammad is the founder and president of KEYS Enterprises, which provides local, trusted therapeutic, mental health and workforce development services to Baltimore residents. He previously received a 30-second TV commercial through Comcast RISE. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Muddy Visions Photography)

A 30-second TV spot was given to the president of KEYS.

He established an organization that provides therapeutic services, mentorship and workforce development from local providers.

Muhammad secured $1 million in state funding for a community healing village, thanks to the TV spot. KEYS has raised $4 million for the project since then.

There is an equity gap for black small businesses. Muhammad said that there are a lot of successful and unsuccessful Black businesses that can't afford large-scale advertising.

Small businesses are created with large-scale advertisement.

There is a possibility that this could be the case.

A report for America Corps member is Megan Sayles.

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