With only days remaining until the application deadline, the Power Forward Small Business Grant, jointly organized by VistaPrint, the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, and the NAACP, urges eligible Black-owned small businesses across New England to apply for their share of a half-million-dollar grant pool.
“Opportunity is what empowers small business owners to have an outsized impact on their community and succeed. That’s why it’s vital that accessible resources exist to create equitable opportunities for historically under-represented entrepreneurs, including Black small business owners,” says Emily Whittaker, EVP, Commerce & Marketing, VistaPrint.
“VistaPrint is honored to renew our commitment to the Power Forward Small Business Grant program, in partnership with the Boston Celtics and NAACP, and support this next round of recipients with marketing and design services, alongside access to funding, to help their businesses grow and thrive,” she adds.
The Power Forward Small Business Grant, founded in 2021, offers eligible Black-owned small businesses in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and select parts of Connecticut the opportunity to apply for individual grants of $25,000. Alongside the financial assistance, VistaPrint will provide each recipient with customized design and marketing support, including branding consultations, logo and merchandise design assistance, and marketing materials production.
“Alongside our valued partners, VistaPrint and the NAACP, we are thrilled to announce a new round of funding for The Power Forward Small Business Grant,” says Ted Dalton, Chief Partnership Officer, Boston Celtics. “Like all of the programs under our Boston Celtics United for Social Justice initiative, we remain focused and committed to addressing the systemic origins of inequities in our community. Small businesses are essential to New England, and we are excited to do our part to help ensure that historically marginalized business owners have access to investment capital to enhance their existing operations.”
To date, the Power Forward initiative has distributed $1 million in grants to 39 Black-owned small businesses across New England. The program has seen applications from more than 1,700 small businesses across the region, with 57% of these businesses being women-owned.
Businesses have to apply have by June 30 via Hello Alice at https://app.helloalice.com/grants/power-forward-small-business-grant-2023. Notifications regarding the selection will be sent out later this summer. Time is of the essence for eligible businesses to seize this opportunity and apply.
For further information, applicants can email powerforward@celtics.com. However, with the clock ticking, time is of the essence for small businesses to seize this opportunity.