Sky's The Limit Entrepreneur Grants

The Hiring Our Heroes Small Business Grant Program awards five veteran and military spouse-owned small businesses with one-time cash grants to help grow and support their businesses. Administered by Hiring Our Heroes, the program distributes a total of $65,000 in grant funding each cycle: one business receives a $25,000 grant and four additional businesses each receive $10,000. The program is supported by the FedEx Founder's Fund through the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. Eligible applicants are for-profit small businesses with at least 51% veteran or military spouse ownership, 3 to 20 employees, annual revenue under $5 million, and a location in an economically vulnerable community (or otherwise demonstrating financial need). The grant honors the contributions of veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs while providing capital to fuel continued growth and community impact.

The goal of the training grant program is to enhance the quality and availability of safety training for United States commercial fishermen. Availability includes the frequency, geographic considerations, channels or partners of dissemination, culturally and/or educational appropriate training material, and other characteristics of a successful training program. As a result, the Coast Guard and NIOSH invite applications to support the development and implementation of training and education programs that: develop and deliver training which addresses the needs of commercial fishermen in the United States provide qualified marine safety instructors, or otherwise accepted by the National Maritime Center instructors and faculty to conduct the training evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the training program on reducing injuries among fishermen coordinate with existing training programs and partnerships with industry fishermen, and agencies conform to 46 U.S.C. § 4502 (i) Safety Standards for commercial fishing safety training In order to support and administer the grant program, the Coast Guard and NIOSH signed a Memorandum of Understanding on May 17, 2018. While the Coast Guard, along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), provides regulatory oversight for safety and health matters within the commercial fishing industry, NIOSH is an agency operating under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the mission of generating new knowledge in occupational safety and health and transferring that knowledge into practice to prevent worker injury, illness and death. NIOSH conducts and funds scientific research, develops methods to prevent occupational hazards, develops guidance and authoritative recommendations, translates scientific knowledge into products and services, disseminates information, identifies factors underlying work-related disease and injury and responds to requests for workplace health hazard evaluations.

The Queens Flash Grants program awards Queens, New York small businesses with $1,000 microgrants to help solve small but nagging business problems (fixing a broken AC unit, updating an outdated menu, replacing a worn awning, or covering similar minor operational needs where margins simply do not leave room for the expense). Five grants are awarded per cycle. Administered by the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), a nonprofit that has supported Queens businesses since 1977, and sponsored by Maspeth Federal Savings, the program is intentionally designed to be quick, low-friction, and accessible to small operators who may not have the bandwidth for lengthy grant applications. The application process is intentionally simple: applicants must complete a standard QEDC client intake form and submit a single-paragraph pitch describing how they would use the money by the program's deadline. Winners are selected at the sole discretion of QEDC and Maspeth Federal Savings, and applications do not guarantee funding. To qualify, applicants must be a business currently operating in Queens or with imminent plans to open in Queens. Home-based businesses run by Queens residents are eligible. Nonprofits, government entities, political organizations, and private individuals are not eligible. All applicants agree to receive communications from QEDC and Maspeth Federal Savings about this initiative and other programs, and consent to QEDC and Maspeth Federal Savings using their name, business description, and relevant imagery in marketing and communications related to the program if selected.

The Cleveland Municipal Small Business Initiative provides Cleveland small businesses with recoverable grants of up to $50,000 (or 15 percent of total project costs, whichever is lower) to reduce the equity required to complete an SBA-backed financing project. Administered by the City of Cleveland's Economic Development Department in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and Cuyahoga County, the grant is funded half by the City and half by the County. The program's purpose is to leverage traditional SBA financing to help small businesses create jobs and opportunities in the City of Cleveland, effectively lowering the equity requirement on an SBA project from 25 percent to 10 percent. To qualify, applicants must be able to secure an SBA-backed loan through a participating lender and meet the City of Cleveland's program requirements. Projects must create at least one permanent full-time job for every $35,000 in City funds received, and applicants must contribute at least 10 percent of the total project cost as equity. The City tracks each recipient's job creation progress annually for up to three years following project completion, and recipients must execute a City Workforce Development Agreement (a free service provided by Ohio Means Jobs that matches unemployed skilled workers with available positions at the recipient business). Eligible uses of grant funds include property acquisition, new construction or renovation, and the acquisition of equipment, furniture, and fixtures. Working capital expenses (such as rent, utilities, inventory, and payroll) are not eligible uses and are also excluded from the calculation of total project costs used to determine the grant amount. As part of the grant terms, the City takes a UCC lien on the business's assets, personal guarantees from the business owner are typically required, and additional collateral may be required at the City's discretion. If the business fails to meet the job creation performance milestones over the three-year tracking period, the City may require repayment of some or all of the grant.

The Clackamas County Tourism Business Grant Program provides Clackamas County tourism-related businesses with grants of up to $100,000 to fund projects that help them grow and enhance the visitor experience. Administered by the Clackamas County Office of Economic Development in partnership with the Office of Tourism, the program is a one-time, $1 million initiative structured around two funding tracks of $500,000 each: a Small Business Acceleration Track, which supports capital investments, physical improvements, and workforce development projects for small tourism businesses; and a Technical & Professional Services Track, which supports more established businesses with projects requiring specialized expertise to remove barriers to growth. Eligible applicants must operate a tourism-related business located in Clackamas County, defined as one whose products, services, or operations contribute to the local travel and tourism economy and that appeals to visitors traveling from 50 or more miles away. The Small Business Acceleration Track is open to either existing small businesses (registered for 2+ years with 10 or fewer employees) or early-stage ventures (registered for less than 3 years with 3 or fewer employees including founders), and requires a minimum 25% match of total project cost. National franchises and chains are not eligible, except for lodging businesses. Funds may be used for capital investment (equipment, software, physical assets), physical improvements (property upgrades, expansion, new locations), or workforce projects (staff training, new permanent hires, converting part-time to full-time roles), with all projects required to demonstrably improve visitor experience or accessibility.