LGBTQ-, BIPOC-, and Women-Owned Small
Businesses May Now Apply for $2,500 Grants Available from the Ready
for Business Fund
GSBA, Washington State’s LGBTQ & Allied Chamber of Commerce,
and Comcast Washington today launched the Ready for Business
Fund – a relief effort that provides $2,500 grants to
businesses with diverse owners that seek financial assistance.
Small businesses in Washington, especially those owned by LGBTQ
people, BIPOC community members and women, are at greater risk in
today’s uncertain economy. This new fund offers support for these
groups of business owners, who run local restaurants, bookstores,
bistros, shops, stores, and more, which are an important part of
the social fabric in our community. With $50,000 in seed funding
from Comcast Washington and GSBA as the fund administrator, the
Ready for Business Fund seeks to support 20
qualifying small businesses to start, with additional grants made
available by securing contributions from other companies and
individuals.
“As we witness the shuttering - temporary and even permanent -
closures of our locally-owned small businesses being devastated by
COVID-19 and the economic downturn, we understand how essential
small businesses are to our community - especially our vulnerable
LGBTQ-, women-, and BIPOC- (Black, Indigenous and People of Color)
owned businesses,” said Louise Chernin, GSBA President & CEO.
“It is our small businesses that create gathering places, enhance
our local culture, hire our workforce, and invest in neighborhood
nonprofits. We love our small businesses and want to do our part to
help them reopen and recover.”
How Small Businesses May Apply
LGBTQ-, BIPOC-, and women-owned small businesses that have been
in business since March 2, 2020 may find more information and apply
for Ready for Business Fund grants at
theGSBA.org/ready-for-business. In the first round of funding,
priority will be given to businesses located in the most adversely
impacted commercial districts in the Seattle metro area.
Applications are open from Aug. 3, 2020 through Sept. 4, 2020.
All grant applicants will be notified the week of Sept. 21, 2020.
The grant application is short and easy to complete. Submissions
will be reviewed by a committee made up of a diverse group of
volunteers from the GSBA and at-large community members. All grant
recipients will receive wrap-around services from GSBA and Comcast
Washington, including membership, advertising, and consulting.
How to Contribute to the Fund
Companies and individuals may find more information and
contribute to the Ready for Business Fund by
contacting Ilona Lohrey, GSBA – Washington State’s LGBTQ &
Allied Chamber of Commerce at IlonaL@thegsba.org / (206) 363-9188,
or visiting the webpage at theGSBA.org/ready-for-business.
“If small businesses can recover and thrive, our local economies
can be strong – that has a cascading effect that benefits
everyone,” said Rodrigo Lopez, Regional Senior Vice President,
Comcast Washington. “We recognize that Comcast can play a role in
supporting local economies where we do business and our employees
live, work and play. That is why we are expanding our community
giving to now include supporting small businesses.”
“The Ready for Business Fund provides an opportunity for all of
us to give what we can to ensure that our neighborhood treasure -
our local small business - make it through the current health and
economic crisis. We challenge other businesses to join Comcast in
achieving our goal to raise $100,000 in grant funding so that we
can double the number of businesses we are able to support. Every
donation, regardless of amount, will go toward LGBTQ-, BIPOC-, and
women-owned businesses, whose ability to recover will benefit us
all,” added Chernin.
About GSBA
Established in 1981, GSBA is Washington State's LGBTQ and allied
chamber of commerce and is the largest of its kind in North
America. The chamber represents over 1,400 small business,
corporate, and nonprofit members who share the values of promoting
diversity, equity, equality, and inclusion in the workplace. GSBA
proudly serves as a connector across the region, bringing
communities together through business while advocating for civil
rights and small business. GSBA also promotes LGBTQ tourism through
Travel Out Seattle, advocates for small businesses in Seattle’s
Capitol Hill Neighborhood through the Capitol Hill Business
Alliance (CHBA), and invests in the next generation of LGBTQ and
allied leaders through the GSBA Scholarship & Education
Fund.
About Comcast
Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and
technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable,
NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’
largest video, high-speed Internet, and phone providers to
residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides
these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and
security and automation services to residential customers under the
Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news,
entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo
broadcast networks, television production operations, television
station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and
Resorts. Sky is one of Europe's leading media and entertainment
companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content
through its pay television services. It also provides
communications services, including residential high-speed Internet,
phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast
network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original
content, and has exclusive content rights. Visit
www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200803005110/en/
Ilona Lohrey GSBA – Washington State’s LGBTQ & Allied
Chamber of Commerce IlonaL@thegsba.org (206) 363-9188
Andy Colley Comcast Washington Andy_Colley@comcast.com (425)
741-5625
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