MGCC presents Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program FY22 Impact Report
More than $100 million in pandemic relief delivered over past two years
Through Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation’s (MGCC) network of community-based nonprofits and local chambers of commerce from across the state, the Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) grant program has been able to serve over 26,000 small businesses since its inception in Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14). The grants, funded through the Commonwealth’s Operating Budget, provide local support services including loan packaging for easier access to capital, tools to expand online sales, training on balance sheets and other accounting systems, and marketing and IT expertise.
The program has been a valuable effort by the Commonwealth to deliver multilingual approaches to help businesses survive and thrive, especially during the pandemic and recovery. Together, our nonprofit grantees helped deliver over $100 million in pandemic relief over the past two years.
MGCC is pleased to present the FY22 Impact Report for the Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program.
SBTA Providers – the chambers of commerce, community development corporations, and other business-related nonprofit organizations – are the door to MGCC’s grant programs for many applicants. SBTA Providers assist and guide the small businesses through the grant application process, offering any needed expertise. The SBTA Providers also support the efforts of the small business applicants through technical assistance beyond the application process.
Valley Community Development Corporation in Northampton is one of the SBTAs serving Western Mass. Sarah Sargent, Valley’s Small Business Program Manager, estimates that just since July 1 of this year she and her staff have worked with 140 small businesses in the region on projects of various scopes and sizes, including applying for MGCC grants, providing the technical expertise a small business may not have.
“A Small Business Technical Assistance Provider in many ways can be similar to a business consultant,” Sargent said. “In many ways, we are an additional support system outside of what they have internally inside their business.
“I love what I do and I’m happy to share what we’re doing and our experience.”
The small business owners Valley has helped often become mentors and assistants to other business owners.
This Impact Report details the 60 nonprofit organizations that received a total of $7,000,000 in grants in FY22. Highlights include that 92% of the small businesses reached are women- or minority-owned businesses. Additionally, from its inception through FY22, the SBTA program has invested a total of $27.7 million in the Commonwealth, served 26,858 businesses, including 22,364 existing businesses and 4,494 new businesses, and created or preserved 33,945 jobs, with an average investment of $817 per job.
Yesenia Melo, the owner of Jessie’s Clean Meals of Lawrence, worked with Mill Cities Community Investments (MCCI), an SBTA, to enhance her business.
“Throughout the pandemic, I started attending workshops offered by the programs of the city of Lawrence, one of which was MCCI,” Melo said. “Kristin Wallace of MCCI introduced me to [MGCC’s] Biz-M-Power Grant [Program]. Things like cooking classes and being able to buy the things needed are now possible because of this program that will help me promote my business.”
Daniel Wexler, the owner of EatWell Meal Kits in Brookline, worked with CommonWealth Kitchen of Boston as his SBTA provider to apply for MGCC’s Empower Digital Grant Program.
“This grant has allowed us to develop a digital education platform, which will allow us to provide nutrition education videos to the communities we serve,” Wexler said. “We will ultimately be able to offer this as a new product with its own revenue attached.”