NY Small Business Funders Collective Moves $500,000 to Local Entrepreneurs
In 2023, the NY Small Business Funders Collective awarded planning grants to five collaborative initiatives across the New York City area to support the development of innovative initiatives that would both advance inclusive economic growth and support the small business ecosystem.
Today, the Collective announced the second round of funding to the initial five awardees for the implementation of the projects and interventions conceived and planned in 2023.
Grantees will receive $50,000 to $150,000 each to lead innovative initiatives such as the launch of a food guild for women-of-color entrepreneurs, expanding use of vital online tools for limited English-proficient entrepreneurs, bringing the voice of local small businesses into a massive revitalization project, and creating pathways to green economy contracts for BIPOC-owned manufacturers.
Our 2024 Grantees & their Partners:
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Asian American Federation (partnering with Korean Community Services and Korean American Family Service Center) – Empowering small business owners to create and manage their online presence and explore how to assist immigrant small business owners in digital marketplace participation. Focus area: Queens
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Evergreen (partnering with Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation and Business Outreach Center Network) – “Growing Green” will advance equitable economic development opportunities for BIPOC-led industrial and manufacturing firms, with a special focus on opportunities in the green economy. Focus area: Brooklyn
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Hot Bread Kitchen (partnering with The Acceleration Project) – Creating the Flexible Food Business Roadmap with actionable, customized tools and resources designed to help women entrepreneurs of color scale their businesses in the food industry. Focus area: All NYC
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Restoration (partnering with Urbane and Brooklyn Business Center) – Assess and pilot a small business pipeline that offers direct support to BIPOC-led businesses in central Brooklyn through a self-sustaining and replicable food guild ecosystem, with an umbrella of turnkey supports. Focus area: Brooklyn
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Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice (partnering with The Southern Boulevard Business Improvement District and Hester Street) – Engage local small business owners in the planning process for the Soundview Economic Hub to ensure that the final project roadmap maximizes market access and customer growth opportunities. Focus area: Bronx
Grantees have shared appreciation for the space for intentional planning and investment. Having had time and dollars to undertake a year of planning, they’re confident that their Year Two activities will have even greater impact on the small business owners they aim to serve.
NY Small Business Funders Collective Members:
JPMorgan Chase, M&T Bank, Principal Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Santander Bank, Metlife Foundation, BankUnited, Capital One
Since its inception in 2021, the Collective has:
- Secured over $2.1 million in funding deployed to foster inclusive economic growth
- Built a diverse funder group spanning corporate and non-corporate private foundations, committed to using a collaborative and trust-based philanthropic approach
- Designed trust-based grant-making approaches that reduce the burden on applicants and ensure that entrepreneurial endeavors are accessible to all
Background
More than 227,000 small businesses employ 1.6 million workers In New York City alone, creating jobs, opportunity, and wealth. A 2020 research study on local small business needs conducted by Next Street found that an estimated 68% of revenue generated by local businesses stays within the community, making them a vital economic driver. However, a capital gap of $45 billion annually exists and the gap is magnified for entrepreneurs of color, for whom equitable access to social, financial, and knowledge capital is often out of reach.
A Collaborative Effort for Collective Impact
The NY Small Business Funders Collective is a group of philanthropic entities coming together to strengthen the local small business ecosystem across the New York region. Members of the Collective share the belief that entrepreneurship is a powerful lever for innovation, community vibrancy, and economic development. Through pooled grantmaking, the Collective aims to expand opportunities for under-represented entrepreneurs to thrive.
The Collective is a fiscally-sponsored project of Philanthropy New York.