2012 HSBC Business Growth Grants For UK Businesses

The 2012 HSBC Business Growth Grant competition is offering funding to help grow up to four deserving businesses. The 5 most compelling applicants for each grant category will be invited to pitch to a panel of judges to showcase what sets them apart from the competition.

Up to two Growing Business Grants (worth £50,000) will go to businesses using innovative ideas to grow within the UK. And up to two Overseas Trade Grants (also worth £50,000) will go to businesses that have the aspiration and motivation to develop new opportunities overseas.

Green Training Grants Available for Minnesota Businesses

The Minnesota State Energy Sector Partnership (MSESP) is accepting innovative proposals from Minnesota-based businesses and organizations to train Minnesotans in occupational skills, support career pathways and achieve successful job placement in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industry.

MSESP, an initiative of the Governor’s Workforce Development Council, is funded by a three-year, $6 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to provide training, job placement and related activities in the energy-efficiency and renewable energy industry. 

Coca-Cola Foundation Pledges $500K in Business Grants For Atlanta Women

Coca-Cola has pledged $500,000 to the Atlanta Women's Foundation (AWF) to support economic empowerment initiatives impacting Atlanta's women and girls. The grant will also fund support programs to empower girls between the ages of 8 and 18 to make positive choices about education, careers and lifestyle.

The Atlanta Women's Foundation has granted more than $10 million to 250 nonprofit organizations since it was founded in 1986. It awards grants to nonprofit organizations serving women and girls, develops leadership programs for women, educates the public on challenges facing women and girls and advocates on their behalf.

Small Business Marketing Mini-Grants For Women In Maine

Are you a woman entrepreneur in Maine? Could your business use a marketing boost? A marketing mini-grants program, sponsored by Women, Work, and Community (WWC), is helping small businesses in the Midcoast put their best foot forward through the funding of professional, effective marketing materials and projects.

WWC will make mini-grants of up to $400 to help entrepreneurs promote their businesses through targeted marketing projects. The call for applications is open to entrepreneurs throughout the state of Maine (specially in Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo counties). Applications are welcomed from individual entrepreneurs and small businesses as well as business partnerships. Nonprofit groups are not eligible for the mini-grant program.

Verizon Wireless Awards Business Grants To Domestic Violence Survivors

Verizon Wireless has awarded nine grants totaling $35,000 to domestic violence survivors across New York State to help them start or expand a small or home-based business. The grants are part of $45,000 committed to the Verizon Domestic Violence Entrepreneurship Grant Program announced last year in conjunction with the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.

The program is based on the premise that many domestic violence survivors have developed strong coping and problem-solving skills, as well as a strong incentive to be self-sufficient and violence-free, that can be applied to successfully getting a small or home-based business off the ground.

Minneapolis Awards $500K in Small Business Grants

The city of Minneapolis will fund 15 programs that support small businesses with grants worth about $500,000. The grants are intended to provide technical assistance for small businesses with help for planning, financial management and education in legal and tax matters. Grants also support business recruitment and marketing.

In 2007, the Minneapolis City Council approved the Great Streets Neighborhood Business District program, a coordinated effort to help businesses develop and succeed along commercial corridors and at commercial nodes throughout the city.

Huggies Diapers Offers Business Grants To Mompreneurs

The Huggies® MomInspired™ Grant Program is offering twelve $15,000 grants to help mompreneurs turn their ideas into actual businesses.

Applicants for the 2011 grant program must be at least 21 years old, a current U.S. resident, and have an original and viable business idea that solves an important parenting issue for babies before birth up to six years of age.

Judging will be based on the following criteria: Originality and creativity; Relevancy to solving an important parenting issue; Potential commercial viability; Stage of idea/business development; and whether or not the applicant adheres to the rules.