Local Businesses Can Benefit From Obama's School Grants

According to the U.S. Department of Education, President Obama has recently announced $900 million in grants as a part of his 2011 budget to help improve student achievement at 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. Most, if not all, of the schools are in urban areas.

The budget includes a $100-million program aimed at increasing college-level, dual-credit and other accelerated courses in schools, allowing students to earn a high-school diploma and an associate's degree simultaneously.

What does this mean for business owners?

This means that local businesses that sell educational services and products can benefit too. The grant money will be allocated in many ways, such as to hire tutors, to buy educational software and materials, to upgrade old technology (computers, etc), to hire local motivational speakers, to hire scholarship experts and college consultants, and more. The grant money may even be used to hire interior decorators and architects to make the schools look more modern.

Do your research, and find out if there are schools in your area that will receive assistance from the grants. If so, find out what the schools' needs are and position yourself to offer relevant services. There will, no doubt, be many contracting and purchasing opportunities in the near future.

Zell Lurie Institute Awards $39,000 In Grants to Business Competition Winners

The Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, a program at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, has recently announced the winners of its 2009-10 Eugene Applebaum Dare to Dream grant program.

The program encourages teams to evaluate and accelerate the development of their unique business ideas. Designed to stimulate students' entrepreneurial spirit, students are required to meet deadlines to produce deliverables that guide them through the business development path that includes shaping opportunities, formulating and assessing potential businesses, and planning and launching these businesses.

It consists of three different grants:

The Business Design Grant is designed for students who have a brand new technology, an idea for a product or service, or have identified a market need but are not sure if a business can be created around it.

The Assessment Grant is geared toward students with a proposed business that sells a unique product or service with a clear market need.

The Integration Grant is for student teams that have a feasibility study that concludes that a proposed business is viable and ready to launch.

This year, the program awarded over $39,000 in grants.

For more information and/or to apply for next year's competition, interested ones should visit www.zli.bus.umich.edu/events_programs/dream_grant.asp.

$10 Million in DOT Training Grants for Minority and Women-Owned Firms

The U.S. Department of Transportation, through the Office of Civil Rights, has recently announced $9.9 million in grants to provide training and other services to minority-owned and women-owned businesses to help them compete for highway contracts.

The "Disadvantaged Business Enterprise/Supportive Service (DBE/SS)" grants are part of an ongoing federal effort to help state departments of transportation train certified DBE firms on subjects ranging from contract and business management, to procurement assistance and how to secure bonding. The goal of the program is to help them successfully compete for federal highway projects.

A DBE is a for-profit, small business owned by minorities, women or economically disadvantaged individuals or, in the case of a corporation, in which 51 percent of the stock is owned by one or more such individuals. The daily business operations must be controlled by at least one of the socially and economically disadvantaged owners.

The funding for this program will be allocated to 33 states. The states receiving the most funding are California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

For more details, visit:
www.fhwa.dot.gov/civilrights/dbe_program_i.htm

2010 EDP Plus Grants Now Available For Businesses In The Mid-South

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB) has announced the launch of their 2010 Economic Development Program (EDP) Plus Grants. The program is giving away business grants to small business owners who operate their companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. The grants can be up to $25,000 in funding.

The program is designed to promote and enhance small business development; to foster business relationships between member institutions, small businesses, and small business development organizations; and to create and retain jobs.

The funding is given away on a noncompetitive, first-come, first-served basis. Applicants must have a business plan, must demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge in business operations, and must be eligible for funding as defined under SBA guidelines.

Those interested must apply through their local FHLB financial member institution.

For a list of the banks in the 5-state region that are member institutions, visit:
www.fhlb.com/member/

To see how the grants have already helped one small business, visit:
www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=184930

USDA Offering Rural Business Grants

If you own a business in a rural area - an area other than a city or town that has a population of greater than 50,000 - you may qualify for the USDA's Rural Business Enterprise Grants (RBEG) Program.

The program provides grants for projects that finance the development of small and emerging rural businesses. There is no required maximum level of grant funding. However, smaller projects are given higher priority. Generally grants range $10,000 up to $500,000.

The USDA, if you didn't know, is the United States Department of Agriculture. It is a federal government agency that is administered directly by the White House and Congress. This opportunity is very legit, and the funding available is very real.

Examples of eligible fund use include: Acquisition or development of land; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings, plants, machinery, equipment, access streets and roads, parking areas, utilities; pollution control and abatement; capitalization of revolving loan funds including funds that will make loans for start ups and working capital; training and technical assistance; distance adult learning for job training and advancement; rural transportation improvement; and project planning.

For more details and/or to apply, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/busp/rbeg.htm or call (800) 670-6553 to get in touch with your local USDA service center.

Intuit Expands Small Business Grant Competition

Intuit, the software company that produces TurboTax and QuickBooks has expanded their "Love a Local Business Grant Competition" through the end of February to more than $100,000 in funding.

Here's how it works: Get your customers to go online to nominate you as their favorite business by sharing the reasons for their affection in a brief comment of 250 characters or less. The top four best nominated businesses in February will win a $5,000 grant.

In addition, a panel of expert judges will select one business to receive a grand prize grant, valued at $35,000.

The grant package includes a local radio advertising campaign on the Westwood One network to help the business get more customers, a cash grant to help grow the business, and Intuit products and services to help manage the business.

For more details, visit:
www.LoveALocalBusiness.com

Huntington Bank to Double Small Business Lending

There's good news, and there's bad news.

The good news is that Huntington Bank, the 24th largest bank in the country, is planning to double their small business loans to more than $1.5 billion. They apparently are going to hire 150 additional business bankers to help small business owners apply for and get approved for an estimated 27,000 loans.

The bad news is that the loans are only for business owners in six mid-western states: West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

But, of course, if your business is in those states - then that's good news too.

Huntington, which operates over 600 bank offices, is committed to helping repair the small business community. Because of the bad economy, they've agreed to loosen their underwriting standards and specifically reach out to businesses that previously might not have qualified for credit.

For more information about their small business lending, call (800) 480-2001 or visit www.huntington.com/bas/HNB2502.htm

Pepsi Refresh Project Giving Away Millions In Grants

Pepsico, one of the world's largest soft drink companies, is giving away millions of dollars in grant money to fund good ideas, big and small, that make the world a better place.

The program is called the Pepsi Refresh Project, and the "Refresh Grants" will be awarded in amounts of $5,000, $25,000, $50,000, or $250,000.

To apply, applicants must come up with an idea that can help the world, or at least some of the people who live in it. After choosing a category that best fits their idea, they have to provide basic information about themselves or their organization. Next, they have to provide a detailed analysis about their idea and implement multimedia (photos and video). Finally, they can submit their application for approval.

Submissions begin at 12 midnight EST on the 1st of every month, and end when the first 1,000 submissions are received or on the 15th of the month (whichever occurs first). In any given month, the first 1,000 valid projects will be eligible for a public vote.

For grants awarded to individuals, they will be asked to provide a resume, any relevant memberships or other qualifications, and a letter of reference.

Non-profits will need to share 501c3 documentation and a letter of reference. Companies should be prepared to share articles of incorporation, legal registrations, and professional associations that demonstrate ability to achieve project aims.

All grantees must demonstrate that they have the ability to accomplish their ideas, and must agree not to discriminate or to use funds for illegal purposes.

For more details, visit:
www.refresheverything.com

UK Grant Money Helps Small Business Owners Protect Against Crime

UK government officials have announced the Small Retailers Capital Grants Fund - a fund that will help over 1,000 small business owners across England protect themselves from criminals.

They can use the grant money to purchase security equipment such as CCTV, infrared security cameras, security shutters and rollers, safes, alarms, anti-fraud equipment such as UV markers to detect counterfeit notes and anti-graffiti paint.

The funds can also be used to install "Neighborhood Watch" systems - in which all the retailers in an area will alert each other to any suspicious activity or crime by simply pressing a button.

In addition to funding, small business owners in England also have access to an online risk assessment tool that was developed by crime prevention experts. They can use the tool to identify simple things they can do to improve the security of their store and to determine who to contact for help.

For more details, interested ones should visit:
www.grantsadmin.co.uk/smallretailerscapitalfund/

Google Gives Away $5.7 Million in Business Research Grants

More than just a search engine, Google also funds research projects at major universities and research organizations.

Just recently, the billion dollar company announced its first-ever round of Google Focused Research Awards for researchers working in key areas that relate to Google's business operations.

Nearly $6 million in awards has been allocated to research projects in the following four areas: machine learning; the use of mobile phones as data collection devices for public health and environment monitoring; energy efficiency in computing; and privacy.

The grants are for 2-3 years of research, are unrestricted, and also provide recipients with free access to Google tools, technology, and expertise.

Amongst the winning recipients were 10 universities include Rutgers University, Princeton University, Stanford University, and Cambridge University.

Such grant funding is the first of its kind from a technology firm as big as Google.

For more details, visit:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/announcing-googles-focused-research.html