Update on
Main Street Grants
Thank you to all the small businesses and organizations that have expressed interest in our new Main Street Economic Revitalization grant program.
Our team, including the Minneapolis Foundation’s partners at Propel Nonprofits and LISC Twin Cities, is excited by the proposals we have received to date, and we look forward to partnering with you to build a community that is stronger than ever.
Since we started to accept pre-applications for Main Street grants at the end of March, we have received 22 proposals requesting $13.5 million in support, including 13 projects along Lake Street, five on West Broadway Avenue, and four near the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. Nearly two-thirds of them are minority-owned businesses, and more than 80% were damaged in the destruction that followed George Floyd’s murder. An additional 30 projects have started the application process in our online portal but have not yet submitted their proposals.
Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis. Community tables formed along each of the three business corridors have begun reviewing requests biweekly, and their first recommendations started coming to the Minneapolis Foundation last week. We are reviewing the tables’ recommendations weekly and will perform our due diligence on the financing of each application, requesting further information from applicants as needed.
We expect to start committing Main Street funds in the next few weeks and look forward to announcing the first grants this summer.
