WORCESTER—On Friday, city officials unveiled the Diverse Business Certification Grant Program.
This initiative offers a $5,000 grant to Worcester-based businesses upon achieving one of the recognized certifications with the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office (SDO).
- Minority-Owned Businesses (MBE)
- Women-Owned Businesses (WBE)
- Veteran-Owned Businesses (VBE)
- Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOBE)
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Owned Businesses (LGBTBE)
- Disability-Owned Businesses (DOBE)
Applications are now being accepted and can be found at on the city’s website. The application form is available as a fillable PDF and can be submitted via email to ARPA@worcesterma.gov. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until November 1, 2024, at 5 p.m.
The municipality has scheduled technical assistance workshops for the Diverse Business Certification Grant Program at the following locations (no registration required):
- April 22, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Lakeview Ghanaian SDA Church, 233 Mill St.
- April 26, 4-5 p.m. Worcester Public Library in the Saxe Room, 3 Salem Sq.
- April 29, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Main South Business Association at the Main South CDC Offices, 875 Main St.
- May 9, 10-11 a.m. Massachusetts Small Business Development Center at Clark University – Higgins University Center, Lurie Conference Room, 950 Main St.
- May 20, 6-7 p.m. Latin American Business Organization (LABO), 33 Highland St.
- May 21, noon to 1 p.m. WorcLab, 44 Portland St., 4th floor
The first step to achieving certification with the SDO is attending a pre-certification webinar hosted by SDO, continued the announcement. This is a required webinar for all businesses applying for a certification.
Here’s the webinar schedule:
- Thursday, April 25, 10 a.m. to noon
- Thursday, May 30, 10 a.m. to noon
- Thursday, June 27, 10 a.m. to noon
- Thursday, July 25, 10 a.m. to noon
Applicants interested in attending one of the webinars above can fill out this Google Form that the City will provide to the SDO. Applicants can also register directly for webinars beginning in August on the SDO registration page.
Any questions about the Diverse Business Certification Grant Program may be sent via email to ARPA@worcesterma.gov.
Send news releases to Charlene Arsenault at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org
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