Just four months after COVID appeared in the US, 22% of small businesses in Washington State closed. 40% of Black-owned businesses and 32% of Latinx-owned – who serve as economic engines for the state — closed over the same period.
In response, we designed an unprecedented economic recovery program focused on small businesses and workers in communities farthest from opportunity a secured a $15M federal grant to support this work. The grant supported a package of projects that built on collaborations with partners in community, private, public and philanthropic sectors.
Some program examples: a partnership with community leaders and private funders to provide business services, education and matchmaking for funders and businesses to provide one-on-one financial support; the Equitable Innovation Accelerator, which provided mentors, education and philanthropic seed funding; a program to build innovation cluster organizations to drive economic growth and jobs for the future; and a pilot to help rural communities create sustainable partnerships and resources to create economic prosperity as defined by them.
Team: Sarah Lee, Tresa Thomas Massiongale, Sandra Archibald
Additional information: http://icapwashingtonstate.org/