Acton antique seller receives recovery microloan wbjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wbjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Gov. Charlie Baker Administration has awarded $1.1 million to Central Massachusetts municipalities and nonprofits as part of a new Regional Pilot Project Grant Program aimed at helping bolster economic recovery by supporting uniquely regional challenges, according to a Thursday announcement.
Nine grants were awarded to Central Massachusetts, ranging from $36,750 awarded to the 495/MetroWest Corridor Partnership, Inc. to $250,000 awarded for the Town of Ashland.
Each project varies widely. The Town of Webster, for example, received $40,000 to create a Webster/Dudley Entrepreneur Support Micro-Grant program to provide small funding opportunities to between six and 10 local entrepreneurs.
The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, in turn, received $180,000 to support an incubator and accelerator ecosystem named the Massachusetts Startup Consortium, aimed at supporting collaborative regional marketing, incubator space and other programs for the business community.
By Amy Thai
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. announced Tuesday it has approved two loans amounting in $30,000 to go towards 290 Auto Body Inc. and American Transport, both in Worcester.
The auto body collision repair shop specializing in vehicle and insurance claim services has put its $20,000 loan as working capital towards continuing operations during this coronavirus pandemic.
American Transport, a full-service auto transport now delivering nationwide, acquired $10,000 as working capital loan, also due to the disruptions of Covid-19.
As a microloan lender, NCMDC is able to provide small businesses with loans for working capital, equipment, inventory, and expansion. NCMDC is the financing arm of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, and these two loans were made in partnership with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Six Central Massachusetts communities earned a total of seven state grants announced late Thursday aimed at improving urban neighborhoods.
The region s $530,000 funding total is a share of $2.5 million given statewide through the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development s Urban Agenda Grant Program, which gives one-year grants based on a competitive application process.
The Central Massachusetts recipients:
Fitchburg – Fitchburg University/Fitchburg Transformative Development Initiative Partnership: $100,000 to support ReImagine North of Main, an initiative to provide technical assistance to help Latino businesses recover from the pandemic and to attract minority businesses to contribute to the arts and cultural economy in downtown Fitchburg.
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. has awarded Kimatra Maxwell, owner of Leominster mental health counseling provider Connecting to Greatness, a $20,000 loan, the Fitchburg organization announced on Wednesday.