Tuesday, June 14th is the deadline for local small business owners to apply for funding from the Comcast RISE Investment Fund. This program, launched in 2021, awards $10,000 to each selected small business. In the first round of funding, 1100 awards were made in targeted metropolitan areas, spreading $11 million in total funding across the country. In this second round, a total of 500 grants, or $5 million, will be awarded across 5 cities – with 100 of those grants, or $1 million, to be awarded in Philadelphia. Other cities include Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis, MN; and Pittsburgh, PA. Businesses must meet certain criteria in order to be eligible to apply for the grant. Applicants must be in business for at least 3 years and have between 1-25 employees. Also, businesses must be owned at least 51%, or a majority, by people who identify as individuals of color (Black, Latino, Native American/Indigenous, Asian American) and/or women. Small business owners interested in applying should visit https://www.comcastrise.com/investment-fund/, and click on Apply Now. In addition to monetary awards, selected recipients will receive capacity building and technical assistance support from experts in various relevant disciplines such as technology, marketing, and media.
Early in the pandemic, Philadelphia’s hometown corporation Comcast stepped up to the challenges of an unprecedented time, to support small businesses hit hard by quarantine closures. In 2020, the media and technology giant launched the capacity building expert advising program called Comcast RISE (Representation, Investment, Strength and Empowerment) with the goal of providing support to thousands of small businesses both locally and nationwide. The focus of this initiative was on businesses owned by people of color, who were experiencing disproportionately greater challenges as a result of Covid-19. Compared to a decline of 21% of small businesses overall during the pandemic, Latino and black-owned businesses declined by 32% and 41% respectively. The RISE program was intended to help staunch these losses and stabilize the small business economies for these groups. In November of that year, Comcast announced a targeted expansion focused on small businesses owned by women, based on some compelling data about women-owned businesses in America. According to the data Comcast gathered through an independent research source, 42% of the nation’s small businesses are owned by women, and around 1,800 new ventures are started every year by women entrepreneurs. However, women-owned businesses grow at about half the rate of enterprises owned by men, due to greater difficulty in accessing capital and other resources and supports.
The Investment Fund component was added in 2021, to provide struggling small businesses with the infusion of capital they needed to stay afloat and position themselves for long term sustainability and growth. Comcast’s support is intended to be holistic, not only investing financially in the health and long-term future of small businesses across the country, but also helping small business owners to build their skills and improve their operations. It is our hope that the Comcast RISE Investment Fund will continue to support our Philadelphia small businesses in the months and years to come, as businesses continue to recover from the long-lasting impacts of the Covid-19 crisis. Our small businesses will need supporters alongside them for the road ahead, and Comcast can help set an example for other corporations and entities that have the capacity to lend a helping hand. Only together can we all RISE, recover, and keep growing!
