Community Corner
Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation Awards $700,000 in Small Business Assistance Grants to 24 Not-for-Profit Organizations
Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) – established in October 2010 to provide loans, lines of credit, guarantees, management assistance, and other services to eligible local small businesses – has announced that 24 Bay State not-for-profit organizations, including the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts in New Bedford, have received Fiscal Year 2014 Small Business Assistance Grants, totaling a collective $700,000.
Grant amounts ranged from $20,000 to $65,000 apiece. This year’s program includes four joint proposals.
The purpose of the Small Business Assistance Grant Program is to expand economic and entrepreneurial opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. Program grants are intended for established, small business assistance not-for-profit organizations.
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In Fiscal Year 2013, services from MGCC’s grantee small business assistance providers helped preserve and create in excess of 800 jobs. In addition, 156 new businesses – or 17 percent of the 910 business clients served under the grant – were started, while 296 (33 percent) grew as a result of services provided by the grantees. A total of 499 businesses – or 59 percent – were located in low- to moderate-income Massachusetts communities.
The following 24 not-for-profit organizations have received Fiscal Year 2014 Small Business Assistance Grants:
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· Accion East
Boston, MA
· Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce
Whitinsville, MA
· The Carrot Project
· Community Development Partnership and Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance
Eastham, MA
· Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts
New Bedford, MA
· Community Teamwork Inc.’s Merrimack Valley Small Business Center and Middlesex Community College
Lowell, MA
www.merrimackvalleysmallbusiness.com
· Franklin County Community Development Corp. with Hilltown Community Development Corp. and Valley Community Development Corp.
Greenfield, MA
· Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation
Jamaica Plain, MA
· Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC)
· South Middlesex Opportunity Council’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Center
Worcester, MA
· Twin Cities Community Development Corp. with Greater Gardner Community Development Corp. and RCAP Solutions
Fitchburg, MA
MGCC sought proposals from technical assistance, training, direct micro lending and loan packaging service providers to assist small businesses located in Gateway Cities and other underserved communities in Massachusetts.
“The continued growth of our small business community is an important reason why Massachusetts has recovered faster and stronger than the rest of the nation,” said Greg Bialecki, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development and Chair of the MGCC Board of Directors. “This assistance and investment from MGCC will support small business development and job creation, helping us to provide economic opportunity for all.”
The program is designed to complement and enhance the traditional public and private small business assistance network by providing technical assistance or training programs for underserved and disadvantaged businesses with 20 employees or fewer.
“We are thrilled to provide these grants to several well-deserving not-for-profit organizations,” said Charles Grigsby, President of MGCC. “The awards will ensure that small businesses who are trying to rebuild are given another chance to grow exponentially in the Bay State.”
MGCC collaborates with traditional financial institutions to make “un-bankable” loans bankable by working with community development corporations and other non-profits to provide funding and financing for job-producing projects, and by assisting a wide range of small businesses to find the growth capital they require.
MGCC also seeks to assist manufacturers that are expanding, other growth sectors and small businesses in the state’s older Gateway Cities.