Virginia Enterprise Zone Job Creation Grant

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 Agricultural Products Utilization Commission (APUC) creates new wealth through the development of new and expanded uses of North Dakota's agricultural products through a grant program. The first 15 qualifying applicants are invited to present funding proposals on a quarterly basis for the following grant categories: -Basic and Applied Research -Marketing and Utilization -Farm Diversification -Technical Assistance -Nature Based Agri-Tourism -Prototype Development and Technology

The Marketing Momentum Small Business Grant Program provides Lowcountry, South Carolina small businesses with in-kind marketing services (rather than cash) delivered by professional marketing partners in the community. Administered by Lowcountry Local First (LLF), a nonprofit that supports independently-owned local businesses across the Charleston area, the program connects a small number of qualifying local businesses each year with marketing, branding, design, and PR experts who donate their services to help each recipient tackle a specific marketing challenge or opportunity. Because the grant is delivered as pro bono professional services, project deliverables vary based on the partner and the recipient's needs, with past recipients receiving support in areas such as brand development, PR strategy, communications planning, and customer targeting. To qualify, applicants must be the owner of a for-profit business (501(c)(3) and 501(c)(6) entities are not eligible), be at least 18 years old, have been in business and making sales for two years or less (or preparing to launch within the next six months), employ fewer than five full-time employees, and meet LLF's local business membership criteria: privately held, based locally in the Lowcountry with no corporate or national headquarters outside the region, majority owned by individuals who live in the Lowcountry, and operating independently in decisions about the business's name, purchasing, practices, distribution, marketing, and other expenses. Applications are evaluated by an outside review committee based on eligibility, the clarity of the potential project impact on the business's growth and success, and the strength of the business's mission or community give-back. Recipients and their project partners are recognized each year at LLF's annual Good Business Summit in Charleston.

The DC Commercial Property Acquisition Fund (CPAF) provides down payment assistance grants of up to $300,000 (or 25% of the sale price, whichever is less) to DC-based businesses looking to acquire commercial property in the District. Funded by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) in partnership with the Council of the District of Columbia and administered by City First Enterprises, the program is designed to help businesses maintain and expand their operations by transitioning into owned commercial space rather than continuing to lease. Recipients must agree to own and occupy the property for at least seven years, ensuring long-term investment in the District's commercial corridors. The fund represents a strategic $1.5 million investment to support business stability and physical growth across DC.

The California Paid Family Leave Small Business Grant provides California small businesses with grants of up to $2,000 per employee to help offset the operational costs that arise when an employee takes leave through California's Paid Family Leave (PFL) program. Grant amounts are tiered by business size: businesses with 1 to 50 employees may receive up to $2,000 per employee utilizing PFL, and businesses with 51 to 100 employees may receive up to $1,000 per employee utilizing PFL. Funded by the State of California through the Employment Training Panel (ETP) and Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), the program is delivered through multiple community-based partner organizations that conduct outreach to California small businesses (including the CAMEO Network, which operates the current californiapfl.com application portal). Grant funds are paid directly to the employer and are intended to cover training or cross-training of existing staff to fill in for the employee on leave, hiring and training temporary or additional staff, and reasonably foreseeable recruitment, marketing, and related training costs. California's Paid Family Leave program itself allows workers to take paid leave to bond with a new child (through birth, adoption, or foster care) or to care for a seriously ill family member. To qualify, a business must have 1 to 100 employees and at least one employee who used California's Paid Family Leave program on or after the current program's qualifying start date (this date is updated with each funding round). The business must be registered to do business in California and be in active status with the California Secretary of State, and must have an active California Employer Account Number (CEAN) under which its employees are listed for payroll. Businesses that use a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) for payroll and file under the PEO's CEAN rather than their own are not eligible. As part of the application, the employer must provide the employee's EDD Customer Account Number (a 10-digit number provided directly to the employee by the EDD, distinct from a Social Security Number). Applicants may need to request this number from the employee who took leave.