Mesa Small Business Assistance Program

The ComEd Small-Medium Business Customer Relief Fund provides eligible small and medium-sized business customers in Illinois with one-time matching grants of up to $500 to help reduce past-due electric bill balances. Administered by ComEd, an Exelon company, the program is designed to support business customers facing financial hardship and help them remain connected to electric service while improving their long-term financial stability. The grant operates as a matching credit: customers first make a payment toward their past-due balance, and ComEd then matches the approved payment amount up to $500, applied directly to the customer's ComEd account. Applicants may request up to 50 percent of their past-due balance, capped at $500, with any application exceeding that amount rejected. If the past-due balance exceeds $500, the customer remains responsible for the remaining amount. To qualify, applicants must be an independently owned and operated business with its principal office in Illinois, have 50 or fewer full-time employees, hold a commercial meter account with active service at the time of application, have a past-due bill balance, and have no unpaid tampering fees or pending bankruptcy. Home-based businesses and nonprofit organizations are not eligible (nonprofits typically qualify for separate relief funds offered by ComEd in alternating years). In addition to the bill credit, approved participants also gain access to a free facility assessment that identifies opportunities to lower energy costs through upgrades to lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, and other systems, along with available incentives to help cover the cost of those improvements.

The Massachusetts Transition and Growth Program (MassTAG) is a recruitment tool targeting life sciences companies considering their first presence in Massachusetts. This highly competitive program is designed to attract out-of-state, international, and newly formed companies that meet MLSC’s strategic objectives to become part of the Massachusetts life sciences ecosystem. Successful applicants will receive grant awards based on net new jobs created within the company’s first 12 months of Massachusetts operations, to be paid out retroactively in three annual installments.

Catalyst provides up to seven grants of up to $75,000 to researchers and early-stage companies looking to demonstrate initial prototypes of their clean energy technologies. Diversity in Cleantech Early Stage (DICES), in parallel with Catalyst, awards three additional grants of up to $75,000 each for projects led by eligible (certified or certifiable) women-owned or minority-owned early-stage companies. The program is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of transforming new ideas from the research stage into commercially viable technologies that attract industry and investor interest. All awardees gain access to a vast network of partners, expert local market and policy insights, and mentoring from MassCEC and MassVentures, while all finalists receive complimentary pitch coaching and business mentoring.

The Salt Lake City Business Stabilization Grant provides Salt Lake City small businesses with reimbursement grants of up to $3,500 per property per year to help pay for repairs to physical damage on the exterior of their business property. Administered by the Salt Lake City Housing Stability Division and funded through federal grant dollars, the program is designed to help small businesses stabilize after property damage and remain operational in their commercial locations. Awards are issued on a first-come, first-served basis, with the full application-to-payment process typically taking one to two months. Eligible damages include repairs to broken windows, exterior lights, fencing, power lines, and other physical damage to the exterior of the business property. Insurance deductibles also qualify. The damage must have occurred no more than 120 days before the application date, repairs must already be completed at the time of application, and applicants must provide photographic proof of the damage and repairs alongside receipts or invoices demonstrating payment. Costs already covered by insurance are not eligible for reimbursement (the grant covers only remaining out-of-pocket costs). Graffiti removal, interior damages, vehicle damages, stolen goods costs, new security features, home-based businesses, and short-term or long-term rental properties are not eligible. To qualify, businesses must be located within the program's designated annual target area (both sides of border streets qualify), hold an active Salt Lake City business license, and meet the program's definition of a small business (three locations or fewer, no more than 50 full-time equivalent employees, and independently owned rather than a franchise or chain). Tenant businesses must provide a letter of support from the property owner. Applicants must submit their application through the city's Neighborly online portal along with required documents including photographs, receipts, insurance policy and claim information, a completed W-9, and proof of business or property ownership. Applications are reviewed for eligibility within about two weeks. Approved recipients are set up as contractors in the city's financial system and receive their reimbursement check by mail, typically within another two to three weeks.

The Business Assistance Program (BAP) is a matching grant program designed to encourage small businesses to locate, expand or redevelop in the City of Orlando. BAP provides matching funds to new and expanding businesses in the city to assist in off-setting development fees, including sewer and transportation impact fees, building permit fees, and all elements of public right-of-way infrastructure within the city’s jurisdiction that may require new installation, repair, replacement or relocation. Eligible improvements include, but are not limited to, street lighting and fire hydrant installation/relocation, sidewalk repairs; traffic signalization; water and sewer line construction, removal or relocation; curb, gutter, street improvements and landscaping or installation of publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. The Economic Development Department administers and monitors the program, as well as determines eligibility of applicants. The program requires eligible business owners to pay 50 percent of the fees assessed against the business, while the program fund pays the remaining 50 percent up to $20,000.