The City of Madison recognizes that small, locally-owned businesses are struggling under the pandemic, and businesses owned by people of color even more so. To address this, it has announced its Small Business Equity & Recovery Grant (SBER). As small businesses, worker co-ops are eligible, provided they meet the requirements. Here are the most important details:
- The business must be in Madison (either the registered address or the place of business itself).
- A majority of owners must be people of color or otherwise historically disadvantaged (women, LGBTQ+, veterans, immigrants, low-income people).
- The businesses must have annual revenue of less than $750,000, and must be caught up on all taxes.
- This is technically two grants, for a potential total of $10,000: up to $5000 for revenue loss, and up to $5000 in reimbursements for PPE or other pandemic accommodations, such as creating or upgrading a website.
- Applications received by the 10th of each month will be decided on the 20th, and disbursed on the last day of the month.
Complete details are available here, and the application form is here. If your business meets the above requirements, you should apply!
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