LISC-GM scale up WNY Grant

Jamil Crews, owner of Crews Control Media, a LISC-GM Scale Up WNY Round 1 Grantee

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and General Motors launched an exciting new partnership in 2021 to scale and advance the growth of the black-owned business in the 8-county Western New York region. The program’s eligibility for Round 3 is expanded to include Latino-owned businesses.

LISC NY and GM recognize that there are several business sectors in western New York that have an expected demand for their services but need capital to scale to meet that demand. With financial backing from General Motors, the Scale Up WNY Grant will support the growth of Black-owned and Latino-owned companies that are undercapitalized but well positioned for growth. This fund is intended to support procurement opportunities in various high-growth industries and/or services:

• Build
• Childcare services and providers
• Energy infrastructure and climate response
• Broadband, digitization and web services
• Medical providers and telehealth services
• production
• Diversity, equity and inclusion advisors

Funds will support innovative approaches to business growth, enhance competitiveness and broaden the range of business services and/or supplies for 10-15 companies experiencing underinvestment. Grants range from $10,000 to $15,000.

Initiatives supported by this grant include:

• Projects or initiatives that a) drive a growth initiative for your business, b) enhance the retention of your business, and/or c) enable business expansion.
• Increase readiness for contract opportunities associated with the 1) American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; 2) New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act; and/or 3) Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; 4) the New York State East Side Initiative; or 5) comparable contract opportunities that provide a path to grow your business.
• Support for broadband expansion, e-commerce and growth through digitization.
• Funds for a) analysis of the feasibility of purchasing an existing business, b) business succession planning plan, or c) cooperative employee ownership models.
• Technical assistance focused on growing the business and increasing access to high-growth industries.

Examples of how this grant may be used include, but are not limited to:

• Contractors, suppliers and professional services firms can strengthen contract opportunities that would not have been available without these funds and/or enter into joint ventures that allow the company to enter into larger contracts.
• Existing companies can explore processes that lead to new contract opportunities for BIPOC contractors.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultants can pursue contracts with the backing of these dollars, helping them grow their business revenue, audience reach and/or services to meet the demand of organizations and businesses.

While preference will be given to businesses in the Buffalo-Niagara subregion, businesses within the 8-county footprint of Western New York are eligible to apply for this grant opportunity.

Applications for round 3 open May 25 at 12 noon EST.

The application deadline is June 16 at 11:59 PM EST.

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