MA Workforce Training Fund Program

The 2026 WeddingPro Grant Program is a $500,000 investment designed to support wedding small businesses through financial grants, advertising support, mentorship, and education. Each business will be elligible to receive grants between $10,000 and $50,000 as well as one year of free advertising on The Knot and WeddingWire. The program is open to US-based wedding professionals who operate a small business and earn a meaningful portion of their income from weddings.

The Enthuse Foundation's Annual Pitch Competition is open to female entrepreneurs. Participants pitch their business at an in-person event. One grand-prize winner receives a $15,000 grant. The runner-up gets a $10,000 cash prize.

The Facade Improvement Program provides eligible project funding from $3000 up to $34,500 for facade repair and restoration. A 5% match is required and can be satisfied via in-kind monetized amounts for grant application preparation, site plans including approval compilation, estimates, architectural rendering costs, as well as total project cost cash match. The goal of this program is to encourage building restoration, historic preservation, and improved economic vitality by improving building facades. Eligible buildings are commercial and mixed commercial/residential with facades visible from the street. New construction will not be considered for this program.

The Build Our Future Grant Pilot Program and Fund (Fund) is a financing resource operated by the Maryland Department of Commerce (Commerce), to provide grants for innovation infrastructure projects intended to support innovation in an eligible technology sector. Grant awards may be used to defray the cost a grantee incurs to acquire, construct, rehabilitate, install, improve, or equip an eligible innovation infrastructure project.

The Prosperity Investment Program (PIP) provides Portland businesses and commercial property owners with reimbursable matching grants of up to $75,000 to fund tenant improvements and small to large scale building improvements. Administered by Prosper Portland, the program covers up to 75 percent of approved project hard and soft costs, with the grantee responsible for the remaining 25 percent match. PIP is designed to support business competitiveness and property redevelopment in order to increase access to quality employment, foster wealth creation through business ownership, and build healthy, vibrant commercial corridors. Eligible hard costs include signage, lighting, storefront improvements, mechanical systems, tenant improvements, roofs, sidewalks, parking lots, landscaping, and other permanent fixtures. Eligible soft costs (capped at $25,000) include architectural, engineering, environmental, market, or financial analysis services associated with physical construction. To qualify, properties must be located within one of Portland's eligible Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Districts (Central Eastside, Gateway Regional Center, Interstate Corridor, Lents Town Center, Old Town, or North Macadam), be zoned for commercial, mixed use, employment, industrial, or multi-dwelling use, and have all property taxes and debt payments current. Each TIF district has its own action plan priorities that guide grant review, ranging from preserving industrial maker space and retail activation in Central Eastside to supporting historic preservation and retail vibrancy in Old Town. National franchises, locally owned franchises with more than three locations, nonprofits (except those located in Old Town), businesses that exclude minors during business hours, and any work completed before a grant agreement is executed are not eligible. A grant recipient or property may only receive one PIP grant every five years.