FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, March 10, 2021
CITY PROVIDING A TOTAL OF $160,000 IN GRANT AWARDS TO NEIGHBORHOOD NON- PROFITS HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES RECOVER FROM COVID-19
NEW YORK - NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Jonnel Doris today announced that the City will award six nonprofit community-based development organizations (CBDOs) a total of $160,000 through the Strategic Impact COVID-19 Commercial District Support Grant.
"We are thrilled to award additional funding to our neighborhood non-profits to revitalize our most impacted commercial corridors," said Jonnel Doris, Commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services. "We look forward to the continued work these organizations will do to support small businesses in a post-COVID-19 economy."
The Strategic Impact Grant was designed to help execute local COVID-19 recovery support for small businesses and strengthen NYC’s commercial corridors. In January, the City awarded $750,000 to 25 phase-one recipients. To encourage application submissions from additional neighborhoods, SBS opened a second phase of the grant program in January 2021.
Grant recipients are nonprofit CBDOs that serve one or more of the targeted 38 neighborhoods, selected by the City's Racial Inclusion and Equity (RIE) taskforce. Recipients also include organizations providing technical assistance to CBDOs across the city.
The following six organizations are receiving the grant:
Bronx
Kingsbridge-Riverdale-Van Cortlandt Development Corporation (Kingsbridge, Jerome Park)
Brooklyn
Bridge Street Development Corp (Bedford-Stuyvesant)
Manhattan
Morningside Heights Community Coalition (Morningside Heights)
Queens
Urban Upbound (Queensbridge) Queens Chamber of Commerce (Corona, Briarwood)
Staten Island
Staten Island Chamber of Commerce (St. George, Stapleton)
The Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) will continue to use the Citywide Strategic Impact Grant to provide technical assistance and implementation support to CBDOs that are awarded Single Neighborhood Strategic Impact grants in the neighborhoods listed above.
"We are excited to partner with SBS in their critical efforts to extend relief to the small businesses that provide essential goods and services, as well as employment, in the neighborhoods most impacted by the economic devastation of COVID-19," said Barika Williams, Executive Director of Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD). "By expanding the capacities of community-based organizations working in commercial corridors, the Strategic Impact Grant will enable small businesses to access the resources that can protect them from potential displacement and permanent closure."
Applications for a third phase will open on March 15 and close in April. It will target the following neighborhoods:
Bronx: Eastchester-Edenwald-Baychester, Williamsbridge-Olinville
Brooklyn: Midwood, Flatbush
Queens: Jackson Heights, Queens Village, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Kew Gardens
For more information on the Strategic Impact Grant, visit nyc.gov/strategicimpactgrant.
About the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS)
SBS helps unlock economic potential and create economic security for all New Yorkers by connecting New Yorkers to good jobs, creating stronger businesses, and building vibrant neighborhoods across the five boroughs. For more information on all SBS services, go to nyc.gov/sbs, call 311, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.