Intuit QuickBooks and Mailchimp Small Business Hero Program

The Start Garden 100 is Michigan's largest open business competition, awarding a total of up to $500,000 in combined grant, loan, and startup capital across 100 finalists and 10 grand prize winners. Administered by Start Garden — a Grand Rapids-based accelerator focused on equitable entrepreneur-driven economic development — the competition is open to anyone in Michigan with a business idea, including aspiring entrepreneurs and existing businesses exploring a new opportunity. Applicants submit a 100-second video pitch to enter, and 100 finalists are selected to each receive a $1,000 no-strings-attached cash grant to begin preparing for the program's Demo Day event in downtown Grand Rapids. At Demo Day, ten grand prize winners are each awarded an additional $20,000 cash grant from Start Garden, and through a partnership with Northern Initiatives — a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that has supported Michigan small businesses for over 30 years — each of those ten winners is also offered an optional pre-approved $20,000 loan, bringing the maximum potential capital per winner to $40,000. While the specific blend of grant, loan, and additional capital partner funding varies depending on each winner's business and chosen pathway, the overall program represents one of the most significant pools of accessible startup funding available in the state. A separate high school category for students under 18 awards $1,000 each to five selected finalists, with an additional $5,000 going to a high school winner chosen on Demo Day. Beyond funding, finalists receive two months of mentorship and refinement support from Start Garden's leadership team and partners, along with visibility through the Demo Day platform and ongoing connections within Michigan's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Vantage Ventures provides structured, direct, hands-on support to scalable early-stage startups in West Virginia through an accelerator program that helps startups test critical assumptions, create prototypes and products, gain early traction with customers, and prepare to pitch investors. Accepted applicants to the Accelerator Program will receive up to $10,000 in technical assistance funding provided by the federal government's Economic Development Agency as well as access to free co-working space in Reynolds Hall and at Ascend WV locations across the state.

Grants for Growth is Verity Credit’s Union’s new community investment program designed to help small businesses across Washington State create meaningful, lasting change in their communities. This grant provides flexible capital to small businesses often shut out of traditional funding—especially those led by BIPOC, immigrant, LGBTQIA+, women, low-income, or veteran entrepreneurs. Flexible funding gives small business owners the freedom to decide where funds will make the greatest impact. Rather than being tied to a specific program or expense, these grants allow entrepreneurs to invest in what their business needs most—whether it’s stabilizing operations, purchasing equipment, expanding marketing efforts or preparing for growth.

Purpose: The Program may consider funding projects that develop new management methods for treating the beet leafhopper (BLH), or development of enhancements to other program areas that will mitigate the virus. The funding will be based on the researcher using a no pesticide alternative or Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) approved pesticides registered for use in CA on BLH and/or on rangeland/hillside. Project Scope: The Beet Curly Top Virus Control Program (BCTVCP) may consider funding projects that develop new management methods for treating the beet leafhopper (BLH), the primary vector of the beet curly top virus or development of enhancements to other program areas that will mitigate the virus. The funding will be based on the researcher using a no pesticide alternative or Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) approved pesticides registered for use in CA on BLH and/or on rangeland/hillside.

This grant is designed to meet the needs of MAryland urban farmers by providing an incentive for beginning urban farmers to seek commercial lender financing for the development of their urban agricultural enterprises, including the purchase of a farm property in an eligible urban area. MARBIDCO has partnered with Horizon Farm Credit to establish and manage this fund.