Raleigh Facade Grant

The Storefront Opportunity Grant provides a grant between $50,000 - $100,000 to eligible businesses to help offset the cost of their first year of operations. Interested business owners will need to submit an application with a newly signed executed lease on or before Friday, May 29th, 2026.

Santander's Cultivate Small Business program helps early-stage entrepreneurs in the food industry, with a focus on historically underserved businesses. Through this program, business owners participate in a 12-week virtual education curriculum that includes mentorship and networking. Business owners also receive up to $20,000 in capital grants. To qualify, you must have been in business for at least one year, have between one and 10 full-time employees and have generated between $25,000 and $1 million in revenue in the past year.

The Newark Alliance Small Business Support Pilot Program (SBSP) provides Newark, New Jersey small retail businesses with a combination of grant funding and product purchase commitments totaling up to $75,000 to help open, relocate, or establish operations in downtown Newark. Administered by Newark Alliance, a nonprofit focused on Newark's economic vitality, the pilot program is designed to bridge financing gaps that are not always covered by traditional small business financing programs, and to support retail businesses filling storefronts in Newark's downtown core. The program is structured around two forms of support. The Facility Fit-Out Subsidy is a grant covering up to 50 percent of eligible retail space fit-out costs (capped at $50,000) for either a new business or an existing business relocating to a new space. The Product Purchase commitment offers up to $25,000 in scheduled purchases of products or services from a business that has not yet opened or has been operating for no more than one year, structured as a decreasing purchase amount each month over a defined period. Newark Alliance has also indicated that the broader program may offer recoverable loans, guaranties, and technical assistance in future cycles. To qualify, applicants must operate a new or existing commercial business with 20 or fewer employees and annual revenue of less than $1 million. Applicants must submit financial statements, profit and loss statements covering the most recent 12 months (if applicable), a 12-month financial projection, and a comprehensive marketing plan with strategic marketing research. Award recipients are required to participate in technical assistance as prescribed in the Grant Agreement furnished in the event of an award.

The Activate Downtown Grant Program (formally known as the Ground Floor Tenant Build-Out Matching Grant Program) provides property owners and business tenants in Downtown New Orleans with matching grants of up to $20,000 (covering 50 percent of eligible project costs) to activate long-vacant ground-floor commercial storefronts. Administered by the Downtown Development District (DDD) of New Orleans, the program is designed to reduce a common barrier to opening a brick-and-mortar business (the upfront cost of preparing a vacant commercial space for a new tenant) while revitalizing commercial corridors, promoting natural surveillance, and increasing pedestrian activity throughout downtown. Eligible improvements include interior build-outs, demolition and shell reconstruction, ADA accessibility improvements, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and lighting upgrades, storefront entryways, doors, and display windows, signage, exterior storefront lighting, security improvements (alarms, cameras, security glazing, and DDD-approved exterior lighting), permits, materials, and contracted labor. To qualify, the project must involve a ground-floor tenant space located within the Downtown Development District boundary with direct frontage on and pedestrian access from public rights-of-way, and the space must have been vacant for at least one year. Tenants may occupy no more than 10,000 square feet of ground-floor area, and applicants must demonstrate site control through a proposed lease, executed letter of intent, purchase agreement, act of sale, or option agreement. National credit tenants and franchise concepts are not eligible, defined as any business that is publicly traded, holds an investment-grade credit rating, operates more than 10 locations across multiple states, or is a subsidiary or affiliate of a company meeting any of these criteria. A wide range of business types are also ineligible, including tattoo parlors, check cashing, bail bonds, sexually oriented businesses, churches, convenience stores, locksmiths, pawnbrokers, smoke shops, wedding chapels, shooting ranges, self-storage, private clubs, and membership-driven enterprises. Ineligible expenses include furniture and equipment not permanently affixed to the space, inventory, business operations costs, property acquisition, working capital, and professional fees. Grants are awarded through a competitive scoring process that weighs vacancy duration, Canal Street corridor location, safety and crime prevention features, project readiness, and small business impact, and are disbursed on a reimbursement basis after project completion, verification, and issuance of an occupational license. Tenants must sign a lease of at least 24 months and remain open and operating for at least 12 continuous months following project completion.

REDC offers grants of up to $5,000 for qualifying for-profit New Hampshire businesses with five or fewer employees to purchase equipment or machinery. Grant funding is limited and not guaranteed.