Time to Get to Work!

Well folks, it’s time to spill the beans.  We’ve got some pretty exciting news.

Through the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) and their Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program, and along with help from the folks at Lynn Main Streets, we were awarded a grant of $100,000 to help the small businesses in Lynn cope with technical issues dealing with COVID.

Here’s the basic aim of the program:
“… for technical assistance and training grants to assist small businesses located in Gateway cities, and other under-resourced and low-moderate-income communities in Massachusetts. …to small businesses and start-ups with an emphasis on under-resourced and low-moderate-income businesses and entrepreneurs. “

The full details on MGCC and this program can be found here: https://www.empoweringsmallbusiness.org/what-we-offer/small-business-technical-assistance-grant-program

A big focus of the award is on forging partnerships within the community.  We put this grant together with the help of Lynn Main Streets, and are working with them to reach out to the entire city.  We’re also leveraging our work with PPE earlier in 2020 and the partnerships we built there, calling once again on the nearly one hundred volunteers and helpers who made that such a success.  We’re now working with the Lynn Education District, representing virtually every school and facility in Lynn and surrounding towns and are looking to them for help involving our schools in the project, as well as a newfound partnership with the Creative Collective, based in Salem.  It’s exciting stuff.

The funds can be used for equipment, supplies, salaries and services – whatever’s necessary to get this done.

We’ve already started – we’re currently working on posters and graphics, signage, data collection and management, developing low-cost products for dealing with traffic in a retail environment, web and app software solutions, workforce management solutions, supply-line and distribution solutions and a whole lot more.

The program was announced in May, but the awards (slated for August) were delayed until this past month.  There’s no time to lose, and we’re hustling to make up for lost time! The program has to be complete by June, but more importantly, these folks need our help!

If you want to be involved, we welcome ideas, hands-on volunteers, and community partners – drop a note and let’s talk!

When we were working on our PPE production, one of our volunteers commented, “I just want some chance to make something good come out of this disaster…”.  Well, here’s our chance.

Time to get to work.