Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Lincoln & Gilbert Fund announces first grant recipients

Cytonn Photography
/
Unsplash

The first set of grants to help minority-owned businesses have been announced by the new Lincoln & Gilbert Fund. Nearly 30 small businesses will benefit.

WVXU will update this article with the names of the recipients once they have been released.

Greater Cincinnati Micro Enterprise Initiative Executive Director Willie Hill says the companies have revenue ranging from $10,000 to a million dollars a year.

“They have different needs; they’ve gone through different challenges. These grants and the technical assistance that goes along with them are here to try to support, and help them pivot and help them grow and take advantage of opportunities,” he says.

Hill says recipients also get access to technical support and guidance for things like marketing, accounting and human resources.

The grants were open to minority-owned enterprises and individuals that have been hurt by COVID. The funds come from the city of Cincinnati.

Hill says a lot of businesses were hurt over the last two years.

“Minority businesses, proportionately, were at a disadvantage,” he says. “It’s so important that we try to build more equity into supporting minority businesses, with more resources and more access to resources.”

The grant itself is named after the intersection in Walnut Hills that was home to the 19th century Black business district.

“Our goal is to try to continue to support and build the resources, and then when new businesses get started, to help them understand that pathway to be able to be successful or more successful and provide them with the resources to be successful.”

The grants range from $2,500 to $15,000, and are based on how much money the companies made in 2021. Two more rounds of grants will be announced later this year. The application to apply for the third round is open until July 30.

Bill Rinehart started his radio career as a disc jockey in 1990. In 1994, he made the jump into journalism and has been reporting and delivering news on the radio ever since.