COVID-19 grants available for small, minority-owned businesses
To help stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic, metro Atlanta’s minority-owned small business owners can apply for up to $10,000 each in grants through the Back2Business program offered by Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wisconsin-based payments and financial services technology company, according to a press release.
The program aims to help support small, minority-owned businesses that have been negatively impacted by the outbreak. The Back2Business program connects small business owners with critical resources, including mentorships, subject matter expertise, business coaching, technology solutions such as the Clover point-of-sale platform from Fiserv, and community partners.
Grant recipients will be connected to local networking support and resources from its community partners such as the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta Black Chambers, Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, The Village Market Atlanta, and the Atlanta Business League.
Eligible minority-owned businesses can apply for a Fiserv Back2Business Grant at aeoworks.org/fiserv.
Grants can be used to assist with payroll, rent or lease payments, technology or equipment purchases, or premise redesign.
Merchants must have:
- Revenues of less than $1 million annually
- Be founded before June 1, 2019
- Have fewer than 10 employees.
About $1 million in grants will be provided to businesses based in Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Rockdale, and Spalding counties. Applications will be accepted until grant funds are expended.
In August, Fiserv introduced the Back2Business program nationally, and the company has already presented $10,000 grants to two businesses in metro Atlanta:
- The Beverly, a restaurant and sports bar in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood, uses the grant to help pay for rent and continue investing in its local community.
- Ragtrade Atlanta, a west Atlanta business whose mission is to develop a sustainable fashion industry for the city, uses the grant to fulfill operating costs, expand service offerings and “pay it forward” by providing other fashion designers with a business grant.
