Most Recently Announced

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NYS, Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program: Up to $800 million will be made available. Applications for the program will be accepted starting June 10 for small and micro businesses and small for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations to help them recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.

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Discover Albany Hospitality Grant Program | Applications Due March 3: The Michele L. Vennard Hospitality Grant Program of the Albany County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Fund is a fund of the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region and was established to support Albany County's hospitality industry by funding programs that will help build and sustain Albany County tourism destinations, attractions and events and bring more visitors to the County. The grant range is between $1,000 and $5,000. It is important that organizations applying demonstrate approximately how many overnight hotel stays this project will yield. Learn more. 

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Albany County COVID-19 Small Business Grant Program: The program will be administered by the Advanced Albany County Alliance LDC through a partnership with the Community Loan Fund, which will help manage the application process. The grant fund totals $500,000. Beginning January 4, small businesses can begin applying for the grants to help recover from the impacts of COVID-19. The deadline to apply is January 19, 2021 at 5 p.m. 

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Empire State Development 'Raise The Bar' Restaurant Recovery Fund: In an effort to support small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Raising the Bar Restaurant Recovery Fund offers ​approximately $3 million in reimbursement grants for up to $5,000 to eligible businesses. The program is intended to support full-service restaurants – the industry hit hardest by the pandemic – during the winter months when outdoor dining is limited and as restaurants adjust to New York State’s COVID-19 safety restrictions and new mandates. 

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The Barstool Fund: Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy has launched the Barstool Fund, a grant program for small businesses, with focus on restaurants. Since his initial commitment of $500,000, more donors have joined the cause, including Tom Brady and Kid Rock. The fund stands at $19M now. If you are a small business owner in need of help due to the impacts of COVID, you can submit your application at: TheBarstoolFund.com/apply. 

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Downtown Resiliency Forgivable Loan Program
The Downtown Albany Business Improvement District (BID) is making one-time, forgivable loans of up to $2,500 available for eligible small businesses. The program focuses on for-profit, small businesses with brick-and-mortar locations located within the BID boundaries in industries with the highest impact from the pandemic, including retail (storefront), restaurant/food industry, and personal care. Eligible uses of funds include hard costs such as business mortgage, rent, commercial insurance, and state and local permit fees.

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Shuttered Venue Operations Grant
While the application for the U.S. Small Business Administration's Shuttered Venue Operators Grant has not yet been posted, an overview about the emergency assistance program has been posted online and includes priority group information and allowable use of funds. Once the application has been posted, we will update the information here. Available details here.

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Central Avenue BID Grant programs: For Information about the Central Avenue BID programs, contact Ronda Shayne at 518.462.4300 or Email Grants@Centralbid.com. Announced June 23, $100,000, has been established with the funding support of the Carl E. Touhey Foundation. The Central Avenue BID will dispense the funds to dozens of minority-owned businesses recently damaged and or impacted by recent events. The funds will be combined with an ongoing fundraising effort to continue the work and support of the Touhey Foundation. The Central Avenue BID's Go Fund Me page can be found here, donations will continue to be accepted to support programs. 

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The Downtown Albany BID’s Business Stabilization Grant: $250,000 is available from non-assessment revenue raised through ad sales and sponsorships over the course of several years. The program will provide funds of up to $3,000 to small businesses and non-profit organizations located in the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District. Coming in the form of one-time forgivable loans, funds will be awarded based on a combination of factors including program eligibility, program priorities, availability of funds, and number of employees. Eligible uses for funds awarded include technology upgrades; implementation of delivery services, contactless payment, or online sales; new marketing strategies; PPE; replacement of perishable goods; interior fit up to meet New York State reopening guidelines; and repairs caused by vandalism. Click here for more information.

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Capital Region Small Business COVID-19 Stabilization Fund: A $150,000 small business stabilization fund provided by the KeyBank Business Boost & Build Program powered by JumpStart is administered by the Center for Economic Growth, the Capital Region Urban Core MWBE Emergency Relief Fund will support MWBE small business in the Capital Region’s urban cities of Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady and Troy. This contribution is part of a plan to deploy $500,000 in relief funds to small business communities throughout the state of New York in response to the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

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Visa iFundWomen Grant Program for Black Women-Owned Businesses: Visa has extended a partnership with IFundWomen to support Black women-owned small businesses in the United States through a new grant program and educational resources. These grants provide an opportunity for recipients to grow their businesses and continue to offer much needed services to their local (and global) communities. Applications are being accepted from June 30, 2020 through July 31, 2020. Ten grant awards of $10,000 will be made.

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Restaurant Employees Relief Fund: Through the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, $500 grants will be provided to restaurant industry employees who have been adversely impacted by COVID-19 financially, whether through a decrease in wages or loss of employment that results in a lack of resources to pay for essential expenses.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Save Small Business Fund: The application process is currently closed as of 4/21 due to the overwhelming response, the link will be left here for information for if the process reopens.

This initiative will provide grants of up to $5,000 to qualified small employers. To be eligible, you must: Employ between 3 and 20 people, be located in an economically vulnerable community (much of the Capital Region is eligible), and have been harmed financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. The application will take about 10 minutes to complete and you will need is your business's W-9 form. Grants will be awarded on a weekly basis, but you only need to apply once. For more information, click here.

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Creative Impact: Capital Region Artist Fund: Launched April 9, this fund was created to help alleviate some of the financial stress artists are enduring. Payments to artists will be in the form of $100 Visa Gift Cards and will continue to be distributed to artists until funds have been depleted. At this time, there is a limit of one payment per artist to ensure fair opportunity for the magnitude of artists in the region. The more that is raised, the more that can be given to artists.

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For Community Based Organizations: Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund: A coalition of philanthropy, government, and business partners has joined together to create a COVID-19 Response Fund that will rapidly deploy resources to community-based organizations at the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak in the Greater Capital Region of New York.

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Facebook Small Business Grants: Facebook is offering $100 million in cash grants and ad credits for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in more than 30 countries.

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The Creator Fund: ConvertKit has established a $154,000 fund to help creators in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Be advised, however, that some 6,000 people - and counting - have already applied. Though they are encouraging people to write in, they want to be transparent about their ability to help at this time. 

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Yelp, $25 million in relief: Yelp announced funding, primarily focused on supporting independent local restaurant and nightlife businesses, in the form of waived advertising fees, and free advertising, products and services. 

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National Grid Foundation: A grant program that existed prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Its major focus ares are education and the environment. 

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National Grid Manufacturing Productivity Program/Fast Track COVID-19: Provides matching funds of up to $40,000, or 60% of costs incurred when companies commit to productivity improvement and growth targeted activities that will result in the increased utilization of manufacturing capacity. These grants are available for companies looking to adjust their operations to produce critical items to assist in the COVID-19 response. National Grid is teaming up with CEG to help manufacturers redesign workflow, get certified by regulatory/industry bodies (FDA, OSHA/NIOSH, ISO), address supply chain, and implement programs to sustain these changes.

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One Fair Wage Emergency Fund: This fund is being established to help service workers struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis and will be making temporary cash gifts to workers as funding becomes available. Fill out a form on the website, and someone will contact you, though they are urging people to "be patient" as they are "inundated with requests." 

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USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Program: You do NOT need to be a USBG member to apply for a philanthropic grant, but you must be a bartender or the spouse or child of a bartender to qualify. 

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Restaurant Workers Community Foundation: RWCF is collecting resources and relief fund information that will help restaurants and workers deal most effectively with the COVID-19 emergency.